Out of the Shadow
by Aurablade296
Summary: Uprising AU. Medusa has returned and waging war once more, destroying anything that gets in her way. Something sinister is lurking within the shadows. Palutena has run out of options. She's their only hope to stop Medusa and end this war. The angel called Galen. She alone must step up and fight for the light and uncover the truth of what happened twenty five years ago.
1. Heading Out

The skies were ominous, that much was certain. Whereas they were normally peaceful and blue, now they were storm ridden and perilous. Palutena sighed and turned to look over Skyworld from the balcony. Her Centurions were bustling about their normal duties, trying to uphold their duties as best as they could.

"Lady Palutena?" a familiar voice asked.

The goddess turned to the voices owner and was greeted by the form of an angel.

"Galen." She greeted.

The young angel tilted her head downward out of respect, caramel locks obscuring her cerulean eyes. The short tufts held neatly by a laurel wreath. The white tunic hung a bit loosely off the girl's small frame. Her sandals came up inches below her knees, effectively hiding the girl's legs from view. Galen flushed slightly but returned the greeting nonetheless. Carefully she lifted her head to meet Palutena's green gaze.

"Is something troubling you? You seem weary, my Lady." The young angel answered.

"Surely, you have noticed as well, Gale." Palutena responded, using the girl's nickname that she was so fond of. "The skies have grown dark. No longer does peace overlook Skyworld. I fear _she _has returned."

Gale struggled to swallow past the lump forming in her throat. A small bead of cold sweat ran down her temple to her chin before falling unnoticed to the marble floor beneath the girl's feet. "You mean..?"

Palutena nodded gravely before walking inside her chambers. "Yes. After twenty five years, Medusa has returned. And at the moment, you, Galen, are the only one who can stop her."

Color immediately drained from the angel's face. "M-me..?" she stuttered out, heart racing. "Lady Palutena, surely there is someone else with skill superior to mine. I-I cannot even fly on my own." She argued weakly, following Palutena inside.

The goddess shook her head sadly. "You are the only one who can take this task. But do not worry; you will not fight this battle alone." She walked over to an ornate chest that lay in the corner of the room. Carefully lifting the lid worn with age, she retrieved its contents before facing Gale. "I will be watching you and guiding you. Do not worry about flight, I will be granting you the power of flight." She held the wrapped bundle to Gale carefully placed it into the angel's arms.

Galen carefully unwrapped the object, freeing it of the cloth that protected it. Once the linen had been removed, Gale's eyes widened once she realized what exactly she was holding. She lifted her gaze to meet Palutena's.

The green haired woman smiled. "After Medusa's defeat, I had sealed the Three Sacred Treasures away. But I also had this bow crafted should Medusa return. Though not as powerful, it should do for now until we know the full extent of what we're dealing with. It is yours now, Gale."

Gale looked at the bow with awe. It was golden in color with dark royal blue on the sides of the blades. There was no string obviously and a defining line on the hilt where the bow could be split into two small swords.

Steeling herself and calming her nerves, she looked up with determination blazing in her eyes. "I shall not fail you."

Palutena smiled upon hearing those words. "Good. Now prepare yourself for aerial combat. I will provide you with flight."

Gale took in a deep breath before jumping off the floating island. She immediately felt Palutena's power flow through her wings, granting a power that took hold of her and washed over her with warmth. Despite the situation, a small smile crept its way onto the angel's face. She was doing it! Actually flying!

"_Gale, keep a look out for Underworld forces. I'll control your flight path, so all you need to do is focus on fighting off any monsters that come your way."_

Gale did her best not to jump as the goddess spoke telepathically to her. Nodding an affirmative, she drew the bow and prepared to launch an arrow at a monster that was now soaring toward her face. Letting the arrow fly, the projectile of energy hit its target dead center.

Palutena vigilantly kept watch over her young angel, watching and observing as she slew more monsters. She could not help but be nervous and anxious. Palutena would not let another angel fall because of her carelessness.

Gale easily slipped into the rhythm of battle and managed to take out all the monsters in sight with only a few superficial injuries. She couldn't help the feeling of freedom welling up inside her. In the air, it was only her, with nothing holding her back. No one to point out her failures or screw ups, no exceedingly burdensome expectations; in the air was where she could truly be herself. Sure, Palutena was technically with her as well, keeping her in the sky, but she was different. Palutena was always comforting her when others criticized. She wasn't expecting anything out of Gale's range; she just encouraged Gale to be herself. But that was so hard when everyone else looked at her and expected her to act like-

"_Gale, look ahead!"_

The brunette snapped her head up at the warning. She immediately saw a twister of darkened clouds swirl in the blood red sky. The clouds dispersed and an immense astral projection rose up. The figure turned and revealed itself to be…

"Medusa!" Gale yelled readying her bow.

The goddess of darkness chuckled. She turned her attention to the tiny angel girl.

"My, my, is this all Palutena can send to stand against me? And here I was expecting some all-powerful hero. Foolish me." she mocked. She made a swipe at the girl, trying to knock her out of the air.

Gale barely had time to dodge and grunted as Medusa clipped her side slightly. She let the arrow fly, only for it to go through Medusa's ghostly image.

"**So sorry, I couldn't be here in person. More important affairs had come up. I hope you can forgive me**."

"_Medusa! How have you returned?! You were soundly defeated twenty five years ago."_

Medusa gave a sinister smile. "**The matter of 'how' is not the issue here, dear sister. All that matters is the 'why'. Now that I have returned, I will stop at NOTHING until I defeat you like you did me all those years ago. I hope you enjoyed the peace while it lasted, because it's about to come to an end. To celebrate, how about we hold a festive blood bath in the human world**?"

Medusa gave a chuckle which soon escalated into a sinister cackle as the astral image vanished.

Gale was now fighting off the shivers that went up and down her spine. She hadn't expected Medusa's presence to be that overwhelming. It felt as though the very darkness she gave off was enough to crush the angel into nothing.

"_Gale, prepare yourself to battle on land. I'm sending you to the surface world. We can't let Medusa do as she pleases to the humans."_

The flight down was rather uneventful. A few monsters remained to slow Gale's progress, but did nothing to stop the girl from arriving at the town under attack. As her feet hit the ground, Gale looked around, taking in her surroundings. It was her first time in the human world and she wanted to take note of anything she should know of in the future. The more childish part of her wanted to look around because it was something completely new to her, but she had to remind herself that she had a purpose for being here.

"_Gale, head toward the arena. I'm sensing a dark presence there. It appears that any humans in the area have fled so just focus on Medusa's forces for now."_

"You got it, Lady Palutena."

Picking up the pace, Gale burst into a full sprint and managed to reach the arena with little trouble.

"_That was quick. Are you sure you're up for taking on whatever's in there? That was quite a sprint."_

Gale responded with a small smile. "Don't worry about me. I've been developing my running speed and stamina." It wasn't a lie. Since she was incapable of independent flight, Gale was used to travel by foot.

"_If you say so. Medusa's commander is just behind those doors. Be careful."_

Gale rushed in to find herself face to face with a large flaming, two headed, canine monster.

"A dog? You would think Medusa would send something more threatening." she mused.

The large canine made a leap for her, trying to slash at her with its claws. Gale yelped as she managed to jump out of the way in time.

Gale took off like a jackrabbit, evading flames spewed from Twinbellows' mouth. Every so often she fired arrows when she was a fair distance from the Underworld's guard dog.

"_Gale, focus! He may be large, but you're faster and can outsmart him. Use that to your advantage."_

Twinbellows let out a ferocious roar and charged right at Gale. With a yelp, Gale managed to jump to the side to avoid getting crushed against the wall. Taking her chance, she split the bow into two and began slashing away at the beasts exposed side.

Suddenly, the large canine bellowed out a roar (or was it a howl?) before disappearing in particles of light. Gale lifted her gaze to the sky to see Medusa's astral projection glaring down at her.

"**So, you've managed to defeat one of my commanders. I can guarantee this is only the start of the war to come. So prepare yourself, tiny one, because when we meet in battle, I will be the victor**." Medusa taunted.

Despite the fear running down her spine, Gale looked defiantly up at the image. "I await the day that battle will come. But you are wrong. When that day comes, you will be vanquished like you were all those years ago."

Medusa smirked and vanished as the skies cleared.

Suddenly, Gale's body was surrounded by a white light and was slowly lifted toward the sky. "_Time to come back. We can plan our next counterattack and heal your wounds at Skyworld." _Gale nodded and was enveloped in light that shot toward the skies above.

Palutena sighed heavily. Medusa was not one to foolishly charge into battle. She preferred to toy with her enemies and make them suffer. The green haired goddess suppressed a shudder. She didn't want that to happen to anyone, especially Galen. The girl had enough to deal with. All of the Centurions looked at her and expected a great leader. Once the former captain vanished, the position was passed to her. That was a lot to live up to; it was a burden she shouldn't have to bear.

"Lady Palutena..?"

Palutena turned around and found said angel standing in the door way. Gale had multiple cuts and bruises scattered throughout her small frame, but none of them looked too serious. A soak in the hot spring could easily deal with that. Her white tunic was dirty and had small rips and her caramel locks were disheveled. Overall, the girl looked exhausted beyond belief, ready to fall over at even the slightest touch.

"Oh, Gale…" Palutena said quietly as she walked over to the angel. Tired blue eyes met worried and apologetic green ones for a moment. Carefully, the green haired goddess scooped up the worn out angel in her arms. Gale squirmed slightly in protest but exhaustion had taken its toll. Turning to the other door, Palutena took the exhausted angel girl to the bath where she could soak and recover.

She gently laid the semiconscious girl in the warm water after removing the ripped tunic, leaving Gale in her under clothes. She gently ran a slender hand through Gale's caramel hair. Gale opened her eyes and turned her head to Palutena. The goddess smiled gently.

"Take it easy for now. You'll need time to rest." Then her expression turned serious. "I hate to throw you into this, but you're the only one capable of stopping Medusa. You'll need to be at full strength before heading out again."

Gale nodded solemnly and let the warm water mend her tired body. Her thoughts drifted to what the next day might bring.

&&.

A/N: And that wraps up the first chapter. This fic is supposed to be a different story that loosely follows Uprising's story. The game's plot and this story will seem similar in the beginning and some settings might be the same, but there will be a point in which it's definitely different than the game's plot. Characters both new and old will appear. As for who Gale is, she is an OC but she is not a female Pit, if that makes sense. Her background story will be told slowly in bits and pieces as the story progresses. I want the readers to kinda put the pieces together as to who Gale really is before I reveal her identity in the Kid Icarus universe.


	2. Dark Lord Gaol

"_Gale, wake up! There's a problem down on the surface! Find me as soon as you get up."_

Said angel immediately woke from her slumber and jolted out of her bed. Dressing and grabbing her bow as quickly as she could, Galen dashed out of her sleeping quarters toward Palutena's chambers. Ignoring the questioning looks she was getting from the Centurions, she continued her mad dash.

Palutena watched the surface world with worry. Apparently Medusa had sent one of her commanders down to wreak havoc and command her forces from there. The humans of nearby towns had learned of this and sent armies comprised of hundreds, if not thousands, of soldiers determined to rid their home of the evil forces residing there.

"You called, Lady Palutena?"

The green haired goddess of light turned to see Gale standing in the doorway. She looked slightly winded but wide awake. With a nod, Palutena motioned Gale to stand beside her.

The brunette angel immediately obeyed and watched as Palutena conjured up an image of the human armies fighting- more like losing- against the Underworld forces.

"Ready yourself. I'm sending you to the human world to defeat Medusa's commander in charge of those forces." Palutena commanded.

Gale nodded and readied herself for aerial combat once more.

=I=I=

"So.. If I fought Twinbellows yesterday, who am I fighting today..?" Gale asked as she navigated through the stormy skies.

"_I have reasons to believe that you'll be facing Dark Lord Gaol."_

Theyoung angel swallowed nervously. "Dark Lord Gaol..? Sounds pretty tough.." she mumbled, unconfident of herself. Imagining worst case scenarios, Galen couldn't help but imagine herself fighting- and losing- against some all-powerful general of the Underworld.

"_Don't worry, I have faith in you. I can't imagine Medusa sending any of her powerful generals out just yet."_

Though it was meant to be reassuring, Palutena only managed to make Gale even more nervous about the battles to come after this. In the corner of her mind, the angel did wonder how exactly the green haired goddess knew what she was thinking, but the brunette was far more nervous to think straight. Swallowing past the lump in her throat, she managed to reply, "I-if you say so…"

A cry from behind got both females attention as Gale whipped herself around so she was facing backwards. A monster spewing Belunka had appeared from nowhere and was now pursuing the angel girl.

Immediately, Palutena used her power to guide Galen through the storm as said angel was fending off the monsters the Belunka had spat out. With Galen preoccupied with fending off the smaller monsters, Palutena found herself navigating and guiding Gale through the narrow valleys in hopes of shaking her pursuers.

"_Gale, turn around! I need you to turn through this tight gap coming up."_

Galen turned around and saw the narrow gap Palutena warned her about. Quickly calculating how she needed to fit through, the angel turned her body by 45 degrees so her small frame could fit through the gap. A large crash reached her ears, and Gale glanced back to see that the Belunka had crashed into the wall, unable to continue the chase.

Gale let out a sigh of relief and turned back to the storm. Yelping as she suddenly stopped, she only had a second to recover before lightning struck right before her.

"_Sorry about the whiplash, but I think that we can both agree that whiplash is better than electrocution at the moment."_

Cerulean eyes wide with shock, the young angel nodded mutely before regaining her composure. Flight resumed almost immediately and Gale recovered and readied herself for more aerial combat and maneuvering.

Palutena sighed with relief as she averted one disaster and went back to navigation. She vaguely remembered that in the past, Galen had exhibited a slight fear of thunder and lightning. Some Centurions had told of their close encounters with lightning while flying through storms and how one could meet their demise if unlucky enough to get struck. The stories had terrified Gale to the core, and Palutena had to reassure that she had nothing to worry about (seeing as how Gale couldn't fly at the time). Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Palutena went back to the task at hand.

Gale was rather surprised that very few monsters had tried to stop her after that. What did greet her to halt her progress was not a monster, but rather a several hundred foot high solid mountain.

"Um, how am I getting past this mountain?" she asked meekly.

"_Easy. If you can't get around it, you'll go over it."_

Before Gale could respond, she found herself soaring straight up alongside the mountain. Forcing one eye open as the world around her practically became a blur, Gale was lucky enough to avoid any sort of collision on her way up. Once she slowed down, the angel girl opened her other eye as she took in the sight that greeted her on the other side of the wall.

Countless humans were fighting against Underworld forces which showed no mercy. War cries echoed throughout the battlefield. Men and monster both lost great number in the fighting.

"W-we have to help them!" Gale cried, ready to fire her bow.

"_No, Gale, we have to go after the commander! It's the only way to stop the fighting."_

Reluctantly, Gale lowered her weapon and nodded. She quickly navigated the field and flew right into the castle of Dark Lord Gaol.

=I=I=

The angel skidded to a halt in what was assumed to be the grand hall of the castle. Gale looked around the rather ominous looking castle. There were no monsters so far but looks could be deceiving.

"_Behind you!"_

Gale whipped around, only to be met by the large slimy tongue of a nearby Mik sliding across her body. The Mik wrapped it's tongue around the girl as she staggered backwards and flung her into a nearby wall. Wiping the saliva from her eyes, Gale rolled to the side and fired an arrow, vanquishing her foe. She slowly got to her feet and looked down at the thick saliva that was slowly oozing off her.

"_Are you okay?"_

"Y-yeah, I think so." She responded wiping the saliva from her face. Her tunic was a little damp and had a slight odor to it now, but otherwise she was fine. Mentally scolding herself for letting the enemy get the jump on her, the girl continued forward.

She walked toward the door only to find if blocked by a Ganewmede. The creature clicked its teeth together as it summoned a large spike ball and hurled it towards the angel. Gale jumped to the side and fired an arrow directly into the eye. Her foe shrieked and vanished in a few particles of light.

Taking her chance, Gale cautiously opened the door and advanced deeper into the next room. More enemies were scattered around the chamber and instantly turned to face the angel as she entered. Jumping to avoid any incoming attacks, Gale took cover behind a nearby pillar and got ready to fire her bow. Stepping out of her cover, Gale let loose a stream of arrows hitting all of her targets dead on.

"_Gale, I sense a human in the next room! And they're not alone. I can feel the presence of the Underworld strongly in there as well. Hurry, the human in there might need help!"_

Nodding, Gale dashed towards the door, ready to aid the human only to be nearly smacked in the face with a Skuttler flying into the wall. Recovering from her shock, she turned to see what sent the Skuttler flying.

A human stood near the center of the room, a large sword slung over his shoulder. He had shoulder length dark hair and a large tattoo covering his left shoulder. Despite the swords large size and weight, this man apparently had no problem swinging it around, destroying any monsters in its path. Noticing he had an audience, the man turned toward the angel standing in the doorway.

"An angel..? Here?" his gruff voice questioned. Swinging his sword and destroying the last monster, he calmly walked over to Gale. "Well, not every day you get to see an angel," he mused.

"Who are you?" Gale asked, still in awe of this human's strength.

"Magnus. And you are?" came the curt reply.

"I-I'm Galen! Angel serving under Lady Palutena herself!" the angel squeaked, not wanting to be on the opposite end of his blade.

The man raised an eyebrow then turned to leave the room.

"Wait!" Gale cried following after him. "Why are you here? It's dangerous here."

The man turned to reveal annoyance creeping into his features. "My reason for being here is none of your concern. Now go home, kid, before you get hurt."

"I can't. You see, I was sent here to stop Dark Lord Gaol."

That caused Magnus to freeze in his tracks, causing Gale to accidentally walk into the back of him and fall to the floor. The man looked back at the petite angel and could tell from her expression that she was being serious.

"So you're after Gaol as well, huh," he muttered. Turning toward the door, Magnus kept walking. "Come on, if you're after Gaol, we might as well go together."

Blinking in shock, Galen quickly scrambled to her feet and followed after him.

"So, that was pretty impressive. What you did back there I mean. Most humans wouldn't be able to last as long as you did against Underworld monsters normally." Gale commented, trying to make conversation.

Magnus gave a low chuckle. "Well, I'm not like most humans. Others have said that I'm the strongest human of my time."

Gale gave a low whistle. "They weren't kidding. You finished off those monsters faster than I ever could."

The two were walking down a rather long corridor. Oddly enough, there were no monsters around.

Magnus turned his head toward the girl. "So you said you were sent to take down Gaol. Who sent you exactly..?"

"Lady Palutena sent me. It's my duty since Gaol is commanding Underworld forces from here. If I can defeat Gaol, that'll be another one of Medusa's commanders out of the way."

"Sounds like a big job for a little angel like you." Magnus commented, eyeing the smaller angel. Now that he looked, she was rather short, coming up to about his chest. "I'm sure all the other angels agreed you were the best for the job." he remarked sarcastically.

Gale lowered her head slightly as she replied in a low voice, "I'm the only angel left in Skyworld actually."

Magnus wasn't expecting that. He turned to see Gale had stopped and was scuffing the floor lightly with her sandal. A slight pang of guilt ran through him; he obviously brought up some bad memories apparently. "Sorry."

"No, it's fine. You didn't know." she then started walking forward to catch up to Magnus.

=I=I=

The two trekked through the remainder of the castle in silence, after Gale's confession of being the last angel in Skyworld. The monsters stood no chance against the deadly combination of Gale's arrows and Magnus' sword. The two stopped right in front of a door that had an ominous dark energy surrounding it.

"This is it then?" the angel asked, steeling her nerves for the fight before her.

"Probably." Came the curt reply. He looked at the girl from the corner of his eye. "You sure you want to do this? It's not too late to turn back."

Stern cerulean eyes met his gaze. "Absolutely. I will not let the Underworld ruin anymore lives."

With that the two opened the door to face the dark lord.

Gaol at atop the throne at the head of the room. Dark energy seeped out of the openings of his armor, making him appear more threatening. His dark and deep voice echoed slightly from within his armor. "So, Palutena sent her lapdog, did she? Magnus, you must be pretty desperate to ask for assistance from this pathetic excuse of an angel."

Magnus glared. "I didn't ask for assistance." He hefted his sword over his shoulder. "Just figured the kid might need some help."

"Who're you calling a lapdog?" Gale questioned, drawing her bow. "Dark Lord Gaol, your reign of terror ends here. In the name of the goddess of light, you will fall here."

A dark chuckle escaped Gaol. Soon, he began laughing. "So the dog has a bark!" he rose from his throne and dark energy flared to life in his hands. "Let's see if you've got a bite."

A dark sphere of energy shot out from Gaol's outstretched hand and flew toward the human and angel. Both immediately dodged out of the way. Magnus charged in, sword ready, while Galen kept her distance and began firing arrows. Gaol sidestepped the arrows and brought his hands up to block the incoming blade. Out of the corner of his eye, Magnus could see Gale rushing towards the two of them, bow split and ready to melee.

Magnus wrenched his blade from Gaol's grasp just in time for Gale to rush in and deliver a few swift strikes to the dark lord's armor. Growling, Gaol launched another dark sphere and hit the angel dead on. Gale flew back a few feet and groaned as she shook off the pain. Magnus leapt back in and delivered several heavy blows, causing a crack to appear in Gaol's cursed armor. The dark lord growled and launched himself at the swordsman once more. Magnus turned to look at Gale out of the corner of his eye. "Now!"

The angel didn't have to be told twice. She drew her bow and charged the arrow before letting it fly. She scored a direct hit on the crack on the breastplate. The impact caused the crack to spread and dark energy began pouring out of the cracks.

Gaol howled in pain before his armor shattered. The helmet and top half of the chestplate had been destroyed, exposing a young woman around Magnus' age. She fell to the floor, unconscious but still breathing.

Gale reeled in horror. She was fighting a human the whole time? Worried that the woman was dead, the angel dashed to check on her, but Magnus beat her to it.

He knelt beside the unconscious woman and sighed. "Sorry I had to get rough, but I had no choice." He turned to the girl as she came up beside him. "She's fine. She's still breathing." Scooping up the woman in his arms, Magnus turned to leave the castle.

Gale was about to follow but a bright light surrounded her.

"_Don't worry. I'm sure he'll take care of her. We have more important matters at hand."_

Gale had no time to argue, as she was instantly transported to Skyworld.

=I=I=

AN: And that ends the second chapter. More of Gales back story is revealed but not a lot. As you can tell, because she can't fly on her own, she saw very few battles in the past since Medusa's defeat in the original Kid Icarus, being unable to leave Skyworld on her own and all. As a result, she became somewhat timid and unsure of herself as time went by. If the centurions told her the dangers of being struck by lightning by flying, obviously she couldn't really see whether or not if it was true or not.

Another thing I wanted to point out is Magnus first impression of her. Obviously, like he did with Pit in Uprising, he thought she was a kid in way over her head. But his opinion of her changed when she proved herself to be determined to fight. When you think about the type of time and place Magnus grew up in, it wasn't often you saw a kid, and a girl at that, to be so determined to fight in a war. He didn't exactly come to like her (not that he did with Pit either), but he ended up respecting her decision to fight.

The last thing I wanted to point out was Gale's appearance and supposed age. I read somewhere that Pit was around 13 to 15 when he became an angel. Gale is around the same age, but I would estimate her appearance to be like that of a 12 or 13 year old girl. She's also rather small and scrawny, if you look back at Magnus description of her. Her appearance is similar to Pit's, but the reason will be explained later. And because of her small size and timid nature, Palutena became rather protective of her. Not that she wasn't protective of Pit, but Pit had the self confidence and strength to ease Palutena's worries, while Gale doesn't have those qualities yet.


	3. Facing my Fears

Gale's thoughts wandered as she walked about Skyworld. She just couldn't get the fight with Gaol out of her mind. She couldn't imagine how Magnus felt, fighting someone who he knew. Someone probably close to him. She couldn't even imagine having to be in his place.

"Galen."

The angel jumped and spun around to face the one who spoke. Upon seeing who it is, she relaxed. "L-lady Palutena, you startled me."

The green haired goddess smiled slightly as she stepped closer. "I need you to prepare. I sensed that Pandora is planning something within the Labyrinth of Deceit. The amount of dark energy being given off is dangerous. She's planning something and it's gonna be big. But Pandora is using something within the Reapers Fortress to hide the location. I need you to go into the Reapers Fortress and destroy whatever is hiding Pandora's location."

Galen's skin drained of all color and appeared to shrink into her tunic. "R-reapers..?" Her hand unconsciously went to her back, right between her wings where a very large scar rested. The scar ran up and down her spine, in a large X-shape starting near her wings and stopping above her waist, and was very deep, clipping her spine slightly. The wound severed some nerves that connected her wings to her spine, rendering her wings unresponsive. How she got that scar was the exact reason she was unable to fly on her own.

Palutena saw her tense up and attempt to shrink back in absolute fear. The girl had a right to be frightened; after all, Reapers were the reason Gale couldn't fly without her help. The goddess couldn't help but feel slightly guilty. The reason the angel got hurt was partially her fault, but she couldn't dwell on that. They had to stop Medusa.

She stepped forward and gently placed her hand on the young girls shoulder for comfort. Gale attempted to jump, but the hand on her shoulder kept her rooted to the ground. Terrified blue eyes met gentle and caring green ones. Palutena gave a small and caring smile and that was all that Galen needed to calm down.

=I=I=

Being in the sky calmed her down somewhat, but Gale just couldn't keep her thoughts off the Reapers. They were terrifying monsters. Once they spotted you, they alerted other Reapers and attacked. The scythes they carried were even worse. She shivered violently and whimpered as she suddenly felt the phantom pain. Unconsciously, her hands grasped the side of her head. The haunting feeling of the blade easily slicing through her back returned and caused her scar to ache slightly. Her heartbeat began to race, as her breathing quickened. And not to mention that she lost the last reminder of-

"_Gale, calm down. Don't worry I won't let anything happen to you. If things get too dangerous, I'll pull you out."_

Gale gasped when she heard Palutena's voice. Swallowing past the lump in her throat, she nodded. She couldn't help but be nervous. However, Palutena said she wouldn't let her get hurt, and to not believe her would be downright disrespectful and insulting. Steeling her nerves, Gale drew her bow, ready for oncoming monsters.

The monsters were nothing too bad, rather basic actually. In the distance, Galen saw what appeared to be a red light. And in an instant, that one light multiplied into may, far too many.

"_Watch out! Those are Reaper eyes!"_

As in on cue, red lasers began firing from the sea of Reaper eyes, aiming for the tiny angel. Palutena immediately changed Gale's flight path away from the lasers. One stray laser clipped the angel's shoulder, causing the girl to give a yelp of pain.

"_Sorry, I'm getting you out of there. It's too dangerous!"_

"No!" came the answer.

"_What?"_

"I-I didn't come this far to chicken out! I can't keep hiding and running away! If I can't face the Reapers, then how can I face Medusa?! Find me another way in!" Gale was yelling at this point. Some part of her mind told her that she was being extremely disrespectful, but another part told her that if she can't face her fears, she wouldn't be able to save anyone. _Like he did…_

Palutena hesitated before complying with Galen's request. She was very impressed and proud of her. The little angel was growing up. Had this been the old Galen, she would've fled immediately and hid. But now, Gale was determined to face down her fears and defeat Medusa. She was facing down the monsters that crippled her. Using her powers, she redirected Gale's flight path.

=I=I=

Gale's redirected flight path was a bit rough but it was effective nonetheless. Gale crashed through door to the fortress rather hard, sending the girl sprawling on the ground.

"_Are you alright? I'm sorry, but we had to bust down that door."_

Shaking off the dizziness, Gale nodded and got to her feet. Surveying the area, Gale found the entire fortress giving off an intimidating air. It was rather quiet, and Galen couldn't decide if that was a good thing or bad thing.

Moving forward, she reached a corridor and saw the tail end of a purple robe turn the corner. _Reapers…_ Gale silently drew her bow and began to move down the corridor, hiding whenever she could to avoid being spotted.

Once she was in the clear, she reached what appeared to be a small courtyard. Suddenly several monsters dropped in. Gale grit her teeth and began to fire off arrows. She caught sight of a Belunka above her and fired a shot straight into its mouth. The monster vanished in a few particles of light and the rest of the monsters vanished as well.

She kept moving forward and ran past several pendulums and narrowly avoided being chopped in half by a guillotine. Suddenly, the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. Looking behind her, she was a reaper looming over her, ready to swing its scythe and take her head. Gale shrieked and rolled out of the way. She scrambled to her feet as the Reaper attempted to strike her again. She fired off several shots and kept moving. Her back hit a wall, leaving her trapped. In a panic, she split her bow and intercepted the scythe coming her way. The monster began using its own body weight against her, pushing her to the ground. Crying out in determination, she forced the Reaper back and slashed at the Reaper's torso, destroying it.

"_Well done. Are you okay?"_

Gale panted as the adrenaline faded and barely registered what Palutena said over the pounding of her own heart. "I-I think so…"

"_You don't have to keep going. Are you sure you want to continue?"_

Gale nodded and moved forward. She couldn't believe it. She had just taken down a Reaper. A Reaper! And she did it all by herself. Even though it was only a single Reaper, the fact that she could hold her own against them and defeat them, the thought was uplifting. She didn't have to be afraid anymore. Even though she was here on a serious mission, Gale couldn't keep the tiny smile of self-confidence off her face.

=I=I=

A large ominous door stood in her way. Large rusty chains hung off the door with several links severely corroded away. Gale took a deep breath and pushed the door open…

..and dozens or little Reapettes flew toward her. Gale yelped in surprise and hit the ground. Oddly enough, the Reapettes paid her no attention and kept going down the corridor. It was almost as if they were fleeing from whatever was in the chamber. Galen looked at the now open door and bravely stepped inside.

The chamber was large and circular, with stairs leading to the platform encircling the chamber above. Light filtered down from an unseen source above. In the middle of the chamber, sat a lone Reaper, bound in chains.

The Reaper turned around and spotted her. Suddenly, the Reaper started to jerk and soon was throwing its head and upper body to and fro. A vicious light shone from its eyes and emitted a blinding flash of light.

Gale covered her eyes and waited for the light to die down. When she lowered her hands she was shocked at what she saw.

The Reaper had grown exponentially, being nearly as tall the chamber itself. The chains that previously kept it bound had shattered and some even hung off the Great Reaper in fractions and shattered pieces. A large scythe rested in its grip as the same eerie light shone from its large eyes.

"_Be careful! Who knows what else it can do?!"_

The Great Reaper lifted its enormous foot and attempted to crush the tiny angel. Gale dashed out of the way and began firing at the Reaper's leg. The shots hit but did minimal damage. A gem atop the scythe shone brightly and the Reaper struck the ground, sending a shockwave along the ground. Gale didn't have time to evade and was hit dead on. The impact sent her flying into the wall, hard. She slid down and groaned in pain. For some reason, the scar on her back had begun to ache tremendously when the Reaper transformed, sending painful waves up and down her body.

"_Are you alright?! Gale, what's happening?!"_

"I-I'm fine." The young angel slowly stood to her feet, even though her body pretested the movement. Realizing that fighting on the ground would work against her, Gale ascended the stairs. The Great Reaper made an attempt to grab her, but the angel ducked in time, watching as the Reaper's hand went soaring over head.

The same gem on the scythe emitted a bright flash and another shockwave was sent Gale's way. She was barely able to jump over it at the last minute.

"_Gale, on top of the scythe! Hit that gem!"_

Cerulean eyes spotted what Palutena pointed out. Drawing her bow, launched an arrow at the Reaper's scythe. The arrow hit its mark and cracked the crystal. The scythe then began to fracture all the way down the blade and down the hilt. Taking not a moment longer, she fired as many shots as she could and shattered the scythe into tiny fragments. The Great Reaper recoiled, as if in pain, and light began to shine from its forehead, as if escaping from its body.

"_Now!"_

Gale released a large charged shot toward the source of light. The Great Reaper let out a howl of pain as suddenly its entire body began to fracture and crack. Slowly, the Reaper began to disappear in particles of darkness, leaving noting behind but a small shining object.

With the Reaper now gone, Gale slowly descended the stairs. Her eyes caught the light glinting off of something on the floor. It looked familiar, but from this distance she couldn't tell. Her heart began to beat rapidly. That thing the Great Reaper left behind. Was it really..? Though the pain was no longer as bad as it was before, the angels body still hurt, both from battle and from when her scar had begun to ache. But she had to find out.

"_Gale, what's wrong?"_ Palutena was relieved that the battle ended, but she was curious as to why Gale hadn't said a word. Gale had an expression of disbelief mixed with desperate hope. She was moving to the center of the chamber hesitantly.

Gale had finally reached the chamber and knelt down, reaching for the object that was shining in the light. She bit back a small sob. In her hands rested a small necklace. It wasn't anything fancy, just a small blue gem attached to a chain. Tears began trailing from her cerulean eyes, she couldn't believe it. She had finally found it. Her brother's necklace. The last physical reminder left of him. Ever since she lost it, it felt as if she lost a part of herself. The day she lost this was one she would never forget.

=I=I=

"_Come on, hurry!" her brother pulled her along as he led both of them down a dark corridor. They were both searching for wherever Medusa was holding Palutena captive. Her brother fired arrows at any monsters that got in their way. Suddenly they came to a large door that seemingly led to Medusa's chamber. He peaked in and saw Medusa, but past her was another door, probably where Palutena was being held. He slowly closed the door, to avoid being spotted. _

_Both angels exchanged looks. Gale had been nervous and frightened, while her brother was determined to take down the goddess of darkness and save Palutena. But he knew Gale would be unable to fight. He had to face Medusa alone. He would not drag his little sister into this._

_Turning to his frightened sister, he reached underneath his tunic and pulled out his necklace. The blue crystal had always seemed to calm his sister down when the light reflected off it. It always reminded her of him. Gently he placed the necklace carefully around Gale's smaller neck. _

_Confused, Galen turned her scared cerulean eyes to her brother's brave yet sad gaze. "B-big brother..?"_

_Taking a deep breath, he began to speak calmly. He gently placed his hands on her shoulders. "Listen to me, Gale. I have to defeat Medusa. I'm sorry, but you can't go with me. It's too dangerous."_

"_B-but-"_

"_While I fight Medusa and keep her distracted, I want you to go and find Lady Palutena and free her ok? Take my necklace. When I open the door, run straight past Medusa and to the back of the chamber. That's probably where Palutena is being held. While I fight, you free Palutena ok?"_

"_Brother.. Ok." Her brother was counting on her. She wasn't going to let him down._

_He swung to door open and charged. Gale took her chance and dashed as fast as she could and reached the door her brother was talking about. She heard her brother and Medusa fighting, but forced herself to continue forward._

_She immediately saw Palutena and ran to her._

"_Galen! Where's…" Palutena didn't continue upon seeing the sad and heartbroken look on the girls face._

_Galen worked to undo the restraints keeping the goddess. Her small childish hands fumbled once or twice but she managed to free Palutena. She gingerly took the goddess by the hand and began to lead her out of the dungeon. There was an exit not too far off, and once they were out, Palutena could use her powers to transport them home._

_Palutena kept quiet the whole time. She felt a heavy weight on her chest at knowing that Galen was most likely the only angel left. Though her brother was strong, she didn't know if he could completely take on Medusa by himself._

_Before she could even dwell on it any longer, she was suddenly shoved aside. She looked in time to see a Reaper swing its scythe at the spot where she had been. And she greatly wished it was her in that spot._

_The dark blade tore effortlessly through Galen's back. The young angel let out a heart wrenching scream of agony. But the Reaper wasn't done. It swung again in the opposite direction, slicing Gale's back once more. Another pain wracked cry escaped the girl. Palutena summoned a ball of light and used it against the Reaper. The Reaper cried out in pain but wasn't defeated. It instead retreated back into the darkness. _

_Palutena ran over to check on the young angel sprawled on the floor. The goddess had to fight back the urge to throw up. The wound was in the shape of a large X on the girls back, no doubt damaging her wings as well. Blood flowed out and onto the floor beneath them. And if she looked closely, the goddess could have sworn she saw the small spine of the angel beneath the blood and damaged skin and muscle. _

_The girl weakly looked up at the goddess and timidly spoke. "A-are you alright..?"_

_Palutena was near tears at this point. She mutely shook her head and carried the girl out of the dungeon. Gale's tunic and Palutena's white dress had both become stained red from the angel's blood. The green haired goddess of light entered the light and used her powers to transport them both to Skyworld._

_As soon as they returned, Palutena instantly began working to save the young angels life. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but both Galen and her brother were humans converted into angels. They had the physical capabilities of angels, but their body was still human. Their wounds were trickier to work with than a Centurion's. While Centurion's could be brought back if defeated, humans-turned-angel would die permanently if the body was killed. But their wounds could be healed more easily, their bodies responded more positively to Palutena's powers._

_The girl woke sometime later. Her tired and weak cerulean eyes met worried spring green ones. The sadness lingered in the air for a long time, as neither said a word. Both had come to assume that Galen's brother was gone. The young girl felt tears building, but struggled to keep them back. She had promised to be strong for her brother. Gale's hands went gingerly to her neck and she froze when her hands felt nothing. It was gone. Her brother's necklace was gone. That was all she had left of him, and now it was gone. She could do nothing to stop the tears._

_=I=I=_

"_Gale, come on. It's time to come back." _Palutena felt her heart sink as she watched the girl cry. She couldn't blame her. Palutena missed Gale's brother as well. He was the single remainder left of Gale's life as a human. Back when he was around, all the girl did was smile. It didn't matter what was going on, the moment she saw her brother the girl would turn to smiles. And now he was gone. That necklace was all that was left.

Gale had managed to stop sobbing, but the tears wouldn't stop. With shaking hands, she placed the necklace around her neck. Wiping her tears, she allowed Palutena to summon her back to Skyworld.


	4. Tricks and Lies

Gale still couldn't believe it. She had found her brother's necklace. She had been certain that it had been lost forever. But the shining blue crystal staring up at her from her palm said otherwise. A small smile crept its way to her face. Just looking at this reminded her of her brother.

"Gale, it's time to go."

She looked back at Palutena and nodded. She hopped off her bed and placed the necklace back around her neck. She had replaced the old worn piece of twine that wrapped around the gem with a thin yet sturdy piece of leather she had found in her room. Gale equipped her bow and set out.

=I=I=

"_Your target today is Pandora. Now that you've defeated the Reaper that was hiding Pandora's energy signature, I've located her. She's hiding within the Labyrinth of Deceit."_

"Labyrinth of Deceit? Why do I get a bad feeling..?"

"_Well it is Pandora. Who knows what she's going to have up her nonexistent sleeve?"_

"I guess she _is _the goddess of deceit. I guess you can't expect anything less.."

"_Well, I can't argue there." _Palutena had to admit, Gale seemed a lot brighter since she found her brother's pendant. She had even gained a bit of her brother's attitude it seemed. Well at least, his preference of banter and humor. The girl had even been smiling more. Maybe just wearing his pendant made her feel closer to him.

"_Well, we won't know what Pandora has in store for us until we get there. But I sensed a large amount of concentrated dark power coming deep within the Labyrinth and it's not Pandora."_

"Well, that's comforting."

=I=I=

The entrance to the Labyrinth was very disorienting, but the Labyrinth itself was even more so. The surroundings kept shifting between being on earth, in space, and in the labyrinth itself. To sum it up, Gale had become very confused and disoriented and was very grateful for the fact that Palutena knew where she was going, because the girl knew she would be inevitably lost. She also felt a headache coming on from watching her surroundings constantly change.

"_Almost there!"_

"**Who's there? Who dare disturbs my beautiful home?"**

Galen jumped at the new voice but kept her focus on the monsters in her path.

"_Pandora, prepare yourself. We've come to stop whatever it is you and Medusa are planning."_

"**Oh, and who's this we? All I see is a pathetic excuse for an angel. Barely worth my effort, in my eyes."**

"_Arrogance will be your downfall. Tell me something, what is that dark energy I've been sensing?"_

"**Like I'd tell you right off the bat. It will be much more fun when you find out for yourself. Ta ta."**

"_Wait! She's gone. Looks like you have your hands full, Gale. Will you be alright?"_

It took Gale a moment to process what had just happened, but after a moment she nodded. The whole time she had been very focused on fighting, so she wasn't really listening to the conversation. "Yeah, I'll be fine."

=I=I=

"_Brace yourself for a landing!"_

Gale skidded to halt, only for the floor and ceiling to invert, causing the angel to fall.

"Ow…" she quickly up righted herself and looked around. The walls were a bright neon color that caused the girls eyes to strain the longer she stared. There were multiple doorways, very typical of a place called a labyrinth.

"_Are you alright?"_

The girl nodded and hesitantly approached a door. It opened and it gave no warning as the wall behind it rushed forward, slamming the girl backwards.

"_Careful, seems Pandora left you a couple of nasty presents." _

Gale rubbed her head as the world stopped spinning. She tried another door and, thankfully, it seemed that this one actually led forward. The room ahead was packed with monsters. Gale slowly and quietly readied her bow, and used it to take out a lone monster. The rest were alerted but Gale did her best to dodge and fire. When the last monster was vanquished, Gale nearly doubled over, trying to catch her breath. She shook off her exhaustion and moved forward.

=I=I=

To say the labyrinth was disorienting and confusing would be the understatement of the century. Gale's sense of up and down and left and right was constantly being changed and it confused the girl to no end. Luckily, she had Palutena to help guide her. One moment, she would be walking on the floor and the next moment she found herself walking along the ceiling. And fighting monsters had become increasingly more frustrating and confusing. Monsters would pop up no more than mere inches from her face and disappear in the blink of an eye. It was starting to get on the girls nerves.

"_Keep calm. I wouldn't want you losing your head before we find Pandora. Just take a deep breath and relax."_

Gale drew in a deep breath and slowly released it. She knew she shouldn't let this get to her, but it was wearing down her patience. She advanced through the next door and nearly walked off the edge into a seemingly endless abyss.

Gale's eyes nearly jumped out of her head. She looked around; where was the floor? She could see the door on the other side of the room, across from the gap. Suddenly a stray monster jumped up from the hole and fired a few shots at her. The angel yelped and ducked, firing from her bow at the monster. Two of her shots hit, slaying the monster, while a few other shots seemingly flew toward the abyss. To her surprise, a transparent floor appeared when the arrows hit it.

"_Invisible floors... tricky. I'd expect no less from the master of deceit."_

The hypothetical light bulb went off above Gale's head. She fired a few more times, causing the floor to appear. The hit where the transparent floor met the edge of the platform where she was standing. Firing again, she stepped where the floor was hidden. She repeated this until she reached the other door.

=I=I=

"**Well, well, well. Look who finally showed up. I was beginning to get bored.**"

"Prepare yourself, Pandora." Gale drew her bow and readied to fight. She could see what appeared to be a large dark violet crystal behind Pandora. Probably the source of all the dark energy Palutena was sensing. She had to destroy it.

"**Try as you might little one, but you're no match for me." **Pandora caught her line of sight and glanced back toward the crystal behind her. **"My, aren't we sharp. Might as well reward your curiosity since you came this far. That is the ultimate weapon of the Underworld. It's been gathering dark energy from fallen souls for years. All their agony, all their anguish, all their hatred, all their despair. There is no way you can stand up to the darkness of this weapon. In a few moments, it will be ready to be unleashed on the world!"**

"_Not if we can help it! Gale, destroy that crystal! Hurry! The darkness coming from it is nearly at its peak! You don't have much time!"_

"**Not on my watch!"**

Pandora charged at the angel, intent on ending her life. Gale dodged and fired a few more arrows from her bow. Pandora was surprisingly fast for not having an actual body. She rushed forward once more, brushing the angels arm. Gale recoiled in pain as the soul fire of Pandora burned her arm. She fired a few more times.

Pandora yelled in pain as Gale's arrows hit her dead on. She growled and blew a stream of blue hell fire toward the girl. The angel ran to avoid it, but some of the fire caught the back of her leg. Gale winced and fired a charged shot toward Pandora.

"**AGHH!" **Pandora landed on the ground, defeated.

"_Gale, hurry the crystal!"_

Gale fired a charged shot and managed to crack the crystal, causing tiny fractures to appear along the entire crystal. She ran up to the crystal and delivered a drop kick toward the center of the cracks. The cracks began to spread along and in a flash of light, the crystal shattered into tiny pieces.

Gale shielded her eyes from both the light and tiny crystal shards hitting her from her distance.

"_What the?!"_

Alerted by Palutena's cry, Gale lowered her eyes and was shocked by what she saw.

Emerging from among the crystal fragments, stood a dark figure in a cloak. They slowly turned around, revealing a mask that hid all but their lower face from view. If Gale had to guess, they were most likely a head or so taller than her, but it was hard to tell from this distance. They couldn't be more than a few years older than Gale herself, in terms of biological age.

Gale stared for a few more moments before Pandora let out a triumphant laugh.

"**Well done, little one. You thought the weapon was the crystal itself? Ha! This is the ultimate weapon of the Underworld. The one who will bring victory for the darkness. Prepare yourself, because you will breathe your last breath here!"** Pandora floated over to figure who stayed silent. The malicious grin on her face sent chills down the angel's spine. Pandora circled around the masked figure who stood silently. Suddenly, Pandora was punched and was sent flying. **"What!? What are you doing?! You're supposed to destroy her!"**

"You are not my master." The voice was calm and clearly male. The masked boy drew back his cloak, revealing gladiator style armor colored black with dark blue scale armor under that. He drew, to Gale's surprise, a bow that was similar in appearance to her own only colored in silver and red as opposed to her blue and gold. "You are not fit to be my master." He turned to Galen, who stood watching in shock. "Assist me. You came to defeat Pandora, didn't you?"

Gale shook herself out of her stupor and drew her own bow. The two engaged Pandora, Gale firing from afar with the masked boy going in for close combat. Pandora retaliated by blowing a stream of hell fire toward the two. The masked boy jumped out of the way and Gale copied as well, but the tip of her tunic got singed slightly. The two swapped roles, Gale going in for melee and the boy going for ranged shots. Gale noticed out of the corner of her eye, that the boy's shots seemed significantly stronger than her own. She slashed at Pandora who growled. Pandora breathed out a sort of gas, catching the angel girl off guard. Pandora, who was distracted, cried out in pain as the boy's shots hit her multiple times.

Gale stumbled back, coughing. She could feel her limbs getting heavy, her vision blurring, but she fought it off. She couldn't fail here, not now. Letting out a battle cry, she slashed Pandora with all of her remaining strength.

"**Auugh!" **Pandora's wispy form dimmed as she lay on the floor defeated for real this time. Her body dispersed into tiny embers.

Gale let out an exhausted sigh of relief. She turned to the masked boy only for him to kick her in the stomach. Quick as lightning, he reappeared behind her and kicked at her legs, causing her to fall back. He slammed his forearm into her neck as he slammed her to the ground.

Gale let out a silent cry of pain as she lay winded on the floor. She struggled to catch a breath, attempting to lift herself off the floor while doing so. It was rather difficult; whatever Pandora breathed onto her weakened her drastically.

"_Are you alright?! Gale! Answer me!" _Palutena was frantic. Whoever this guy was, he didn't mess around. "_Who are you?!"_

The boy began walking away, but he turned to look at the girl struggling to get to her feet over his shoulder. "I am the darkness opposite to your light, young one. Yet I side with neither the Underworld nor Skyworld for this battle. I shall await my master's return. Until then, I am neither friend nor foe. I am Vitiosus. Remember my name, tiny one."

He cast off his cloak and dark energy began concentrating near his back. In a flash, dark colored wings appeared from his back. They were a dark violet and emitted a purple glow. He flapped his wings a few times before taking off into one of the openings high on the wall.

"_Wings!? Is he an angel!?"_ Palutena cried in confusion. This didn't make sense, why would an angel appear from such powerful darkness? Was it possible he was a Daimon, a fallen angel? He claimed he was neutral in the war against the Underworld, but who was his master? Was his master with them or against them? There was so much left unexplained.

Gale, who had managed to get to her knees, could only stare at where Vitiosus had disappeared. She couldn't believe it. Was he really an angel? The thought left a small glimmer of hope in her chest. Perhaps she wasn't truly the last angel, as she previously believed. But he was so merciless, so powerful. He had pinned her in seconds, like she was nothing.

"_Gale, I need you to return. But before you do, I want you to retrieve one of those crystal shards for me. Maybe it can give us a clue as to who Vitiosus really is."_

The young angel nodded and got to her feet. She swayed for a second before regaining her composure. Bending down, she gingerly grabbed a small purple crystal that was laying at her feet. Nodding, a light engulfed her as Palutena called her back.

=I=I=

Palutena turned around from where she was sitting as Galen stumbled in. The goddess noticed that she was limping slightly, and then her eyes caught the rather nasty burn on the back of her leg. The girl limped over to Palutena and produced the crystal shard from her tunic.

Palutena smiled kindly at the girl. She gently took if from Gale's slightly burnt and tired hands. "Why don't you go for a soak in the hot spring? It should fix you right up."

Nodding tiredly, the girl bowed and left her goddess's chamber, heading toward the hot spring.

Palutena's smile faded as she brought the crystal piece in her hand closer for examination. There was something odd about Vitiosus, and hopefully this crystal could give her answers.

=I=I=

Gale winced as the steaming water made contact with her burnt leg. Slowly lowering herself, she eased in as the warmth spread throughout her body. She was in her simple blue shirt and shorts that she wore under her tunic. The singed garment lay behind her on one of the stone benches. She could feel the water healing any wounds she sustained during her fight with Pandora. But her wounds weren't what was occupying her mind.

For some reason, she just couldn't get Vitiosus out of her head. If she had to fight him, could she take him if he went head on? He had handled her so easily, treating her like nothing more than a nuisance. She shook her head and submerged her head under the water. Coming back up, she promised herself that she would be prepared for when she had to face him next.


	5. Vitiosus

Vitiosus. That was all she could think about. Even when she slept, her dreams were of her fighting Vitiosus and losing. Badly. He was seemingly better than her at everything. He could even fly without assistance. And apparently he went easy on her. Their last encounter left her winded and beaten, and he simply shrugged her off as if she were an insect. She gently rubbed her throat where a bruise still lingered from where he slammed his arm into her neck. Sighing, Galen climbed out of her bed and went to see Palutena.

=I=I=

The goddess let out a sigh of frustration. No matter how she analyzed this crystal, nothing gave her insight about the masked angel, Vitiosus. Pandora had said that the crystal he appeared from had been absorbing darkness. Did that mean that Vitiosus was the product of that, merely darkness come alive? Or did he exist prior to that and the crystal merely allow him to absorb all that darkness? No, she doubted it was the former. He felt…different. There was a considerable amount of darkness, yes, but there was most definitely a soul. Darkness in itself cannot produce a soul. That much was true.

"Lady Palutena?"

The goddess nearly jumped, but managed to keep her composure. She turned to Gale, who stood in the door way, looking rather sullen. No doubt she couldn't bring her thoughts off Vitiosus either. Palutena couldn't blame the girl. He had so easily defeated her like she was nothing.

"I just cannot seem to gain any knowledge in him. It's almost like he came out of nowhere."

The angel didn't need to be told who she was referring to.

"It seems like we have to confront him if we want any information. I've sensed that he's not too far. Are you willing to head out?"

Cerulean eyes blazed with determination. "Yes, ma'am."

=I=I=

"_There he is!_"

Vitiosus was standing at the peak of a rather large mountain, his arms crossed as he scanned the horizon. He turned his head toward Galen, who was flying toward him. He spread his wings and took to the skies at an astonishing speed. Gale had little time to retaliate as he threw a fist toward her head. She managed to duck and brought her bow out for defense. Vitiosus brought out his own weapon and the two began clashing at short range.

"Is there something you require of me, tiny one? I thought I made it clear that I was waiting for my master."

"_Vitiosus, we are not here for trouble. We merely want answers."_

"Pertaining to what?"

"_You, of course. As far as I know, there are no records or even hint of your existence until yesterday."_

Vitiosus flew back and simply looked the angel girl up and down. She had stayed silent while Palutena had been speaking.

"I have no obligation to answer your questions." He flew off toward what appeared to be some abandoned ruins.

Gale reached her hand out, as if she could pull him back. "Wait!"

"_After him!"_

=I=I=

"**My, my. What is this?"**

Gale's heart nearly leapt to her throat. She had not felt Medusa's presence at all. She yelped as dozens of Underworld Monsters began pursuing her and getting in her way.

"_Nothing that concerns you, Medusa."_

"**Well, aren't we testy today? After little old Vitiosus, are we?"**

"_Tell me, Medusa, since you appear to know. Who is he?"_

"**That is truly an excellent question. I regret to inform you that even I do not possess the answers you seek."**

"_I doubt the truth in your words. If you do not know, then explain how you knew about the crystal he was in? Your so called 'greatest weapon of the Underworld'"?_

"**Hmm. That is curious. My memory is not what it used to be. I cannot recall where I heard of the crystal."**

"_So you truly don't remember?"_

"**I'm afraid not. But what is curious is that he's bound to another master. When he was released, all the darkness we had been feeding the crystal should have bound him to the Underworld army. If he is bound to another, where is his so called 'master' that he is waiting for? Will he be another player in our little game I wonder?"**

Gale could just hear the smile at Medusa's last question. She shivered slightly. Dealing with Medusa was bad enough. And judging from Vitiosus' tone, his master is probably not on their side.

"_We'll deal with Vitiosus' master when the time comes."_

Gale could see Vitiosus in the distance. Apparently the Underworld wasn't too happy that he had killed Pandora after all the trouble they went through to release him. But the monsters didn't even slow him down. He turned back to see Gale following him.

"Still following me, are we? Very well, if I cannot lose you, I'll fight you off instead." He turned around and began firing at the angel. Gale yelped as she did her best to dodge the barrage of fire. She let off a few shots of her own, but Vitiosus dodged with ease. He charged toward her at breakneck speed and rammed right into her. She flew straight into the mountain side behind her. A few whimpers of pain escaped her lips. She cracked her eyes open to see Vitiosus fly away.

"W-wait." She pushed herself off the wall and flew toward him. He turned in surprise, he hadn't expected her to get up again. He quickly flew off toward some abandoned ruins. Gale gritted her teeth in pain, and flew off after him once more.

=I=I=

The moment her feet hit the ground, she almost collapsed. When Vitiosus slammed her into the mountain, he didn't hold back. Ignoring the pain, she looked around. The surrounding area was barren, these ruins hadn't been used for ages. There was a dried up fountain in the center of the area. Up on the hill, a large abandoned altar stood, perhaps used at some point to worship the gods.

Suddenly something impacted her back, right on her scar. She screamed in pain and looked wildly for the source. She spotted Vitiosus on a cliff nearby. He was trying to snipe her down from afar! Gale took off down the path that lead up to where he was.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that several Underworld monsters had engaged him in combat. Taking her chance, she dashed as fast as she could and managed to reach Vitiosus by the time he had slain the last monster. He scowled and charged toward her. Gale managed to block his initial strike but couldn't block the spin kick toward her abdomen. She staggered back but as he charged toward her, she managed to dodge and deliver a right hook to the side of his mask.

Vitiosus had jumped back and scowled, showing any emotion for the first time. "Let us end this childish fighting. Let us finish this fight properly." With that, he flew off toward what looked like an abandoned arena.

Gale panted heavily and wiped the sweat off her brow. So he wanted to fight there? Somehow it seemed appropriate. Taking a deep breath, she trekked down the path to the arena. Her legs started shaking and she could only guess why. Was she tired? Or was it anxiety that she would actually fight Vitiosus head on? Swallowing past the lump in her throat, she clutched the gem around her neck and moved on.

=I=I=

Vitiosus was waiting. His back turned from the entrance where she entered. He turned around and drew his weapon. Gale mirrored his actions. With a battle cry, Gale charged. Vitiosus parried and attempted to slash her. Gale managed to turn so he only ripped her tunic. She retaliated and missed him by inches as he leaned back so her blade passed above him. He swept her feet out from under her, causing her to land on her back. He raised his blade to impale her, but she managed to roll out of the way. She scrambled to her feet and tried shooting him from a distance. He reflected each shot and fired a charged shot towards her. Gale ran out of the way and the shot hit the aged and cracked wall behind her, causing part of the wall to crumble. Vitiosus let loose a barrage of weaker shots with a few of them hitting their mark. Gale faltered slightly, leaving herself open. Vitiosus charged his next shot and fired a powerful blast toward the girl. Gale screamed in pain as the energy from the shot engulfed her. As the dark energy ravaged her small body, the cord around her neck was sliced off, the gem hitting the ground and landing a foot or two away. As the energy faded, Gale collapsed onto the ground.

"_GALE!" _Palutena was in a near panic. She hadn't anticipated Vitiosus to be this strong. Gale wasn't responding. Palutena could feel her heart race. Gale couldn't be dead, she couldn't be! Palutena had vowed to herself that she wouldn't let anything happen to the girl.

Vitiosus looked at the girl with no emotion. The girl was more resilient than he anticipated. But in the end, she was still no match for him. His eye caught the blue gem on the ground, the light of the setting sun bouncing off it. Silently, he walked over and bent down to grab it.

Suddenly, a pale and wounded hand grasped the gem before he could. Making a small noise of surprise, Vitiosus turned his head to see that Galen hand reached out and grabbed the gem, despite the obvious pain she was in.

Gale wouldn't let him take it. She wouldn't. It was all she had left, and she would sooner lose her life than loose this again. Exhausted and pained cerulean eyes glared at the mask hiding Vitiosus from view. "D-don't t-touch this... I-I won't let you have it…"

Without a word, the masked angel brought his foot down on her hand. Gale screamed but didn't move her hand. She gritted her teeth against the pain. Vitiosus was rather intrigued. Was this thing so important to her that she'd risk her life? She was interesting for sure. She was clearly outmatched against him, and yet she keeps insisting on fighting. Maybe he should let her go. If anything, she could keep him entertained until his master returned. Yes, that will do. He lifted his foot off her wounded hand and turned to walk away. He looked over his shoulder at her. "I will let you go for now. You intrigue me. Until we cross paths again, little one." He spread his wings and flew off.

Gale watched tiredly as he flew off until he couldn't be seen anymore. She lifted her wounded and throbbing hand to check on her brother's necklace. As far as she could tell, it wasn't damaged or anything. That was good. She gently scooped the gem into her hand before her head hit the stone as she passed out.

"_Gale! Gale, answer me! Are you alright?!" _Palutena couldn't take it anymore. She teleported herself down into the arena where her angel had passed out. She knelt down and gently turned the girl over so she could see her face. The angel's face was littered with a mix of scrapes and burns. Her tunic was ripped all over. Small stains of blood turned the white fabric a crimson color. Palutena's gaze traveled to Gale's hand. Her hand was probably broken from when Vitiosus stepped on it. Her green eyes spotted the necklace cradled in the girl's broken hand. Palutena gently smoothed the stray hair from Gale's face and scooped the angel gently in her arms. "Let's go home."

=I=I=

Gale woke much later, in her bed and bandaged in several places. She looked around and found the necklace on the nightstand beside the bed. A small smile formed as she sighed. At least Vitiosus hadn't taken it. Gale tried sitting up, but a terrible ache surged through her body. Biting back a cry of pain, Gale forced herself back down onto her pillow. Her thoughts drifted back to the fight with Vitiosus. All she could think about was how easily he defeated her. He let her go because he found her "interesting". She wasn't sure how to take that. He had the chance to finish her off, but he didn't. She couldn't understand. But one thing was certain; she couldn't face him until she got stronger, a lot stronger.

=I=I=

A/N: Thanks so much to those who reviewed/ favorite/ followed this story. It really means a lot to me to know that some people are truly interested in this story. I hope to have the next chapter up within the next few days.

Now onto the recap of this chapter. Obviously, Galen was outmatched, but her determined spirit is what kept her going. This chapter is crucial towards her growth as she now sees Vitiosus as a reason to keep getting stronger, but is it for the better? Who knows? Leave a review if you want but they really mean a lot to me and see you next chapter!


	6. One Step Closer, Two Steps Back

Palutena was getting worried. As soon as Gale was well enough to be out of bed, she had started to train herself continuously. Nonstop. With no rest. Palutena wasn't sure how far Gale could push herself before she would collapse. She knew why the angel was pushing herself. Vitiosus. Since her defeat at his hands, Gale tried her hardest to get stronger to face him. Vitiosus wasn't their priority right now. If he wasn't trying to stop them from defeating the Underworld, then it was best if they didn't waste time with him.

The goddess brought a hand to her weary brow. Releasing a sigh, she left to find said angel. It wouldn't be hard to find her. Gale always trained in the same spot. Only she and Palutena knew where it was. It acted like a sort of hiding spot for when the angel was stressed or close to her breaking point.

Turning the corner, she reached the spot where the girl was unsurprisingly, training vigorously. From this distance, green eyes could spot a light layer of sweat gathering on the girl's brow as she continued to practice her melee strikes against a makeshift training target.

"Galen." Said girl nearly jumped three feet and spun around to face Palutena.

"Lady Palutena. Is something the matter?"

The goddess was about to comment about the girl's concerning training habits, but decided against it. "I need you to head out. If we're to get to Medusa's lair in the Underworld, we need a key to get there. I've sensed that Thanatos is in possession of one. You'll be heading to where he's hiding to retrieve that key."

Gale cocked her head to the side. "Thanatos…? Doesn't sound familiar…"

The goddess cracked a small smile. "That doesn't surprise me. He acts as Medusa's right hand man. 25 years ago, he took the form of a snake and rested atop Medusa's head."

Gale nodded her head in understanding. If that was the case, perhaps Thanatos was there when her brother defeated Medusa. Perhaps he knows what happened to him.

=I=I=

"This is the first time I've seen the ocean. It's really amazing." Gale took in a breath of the salty air and smiled. The shimmering waters of the ocean below her brought a smile to her face.

"_Glad you like it. Because that's where Thanatos is hiding."_

Gale's expression faltered. "Under the water..? Um, no disrespect, but I think you're forgetting that I can't swim." As much as she was ashamed to admit it, she sank like a rock in water. She couldn't understand why, but whenever Palutena tried to teach her to swim it always ended in disaster.

"_Hehe. No, I didn't forget. That's why I prepared this."_

Suddenly, the water parted before her. She could see that at the end of the path created by the parted water that some sort of palace rested at the bottom of the ocean.

"Th-this is incredible! How did you do this?" Gale couldn't suppress her surprise and awe. To part an ocean no doubt took a great deal of power.

"_Well, all the credit doesn't go to me. Let's just say, I called in a favor from Poseidon."_

"The god of the sea? He let us do this?"

"_When I asked him for his aid, he agreed. He agrees that the Underworld needs to be stopped. He would've liked to meet 'the brave soul who will challenge the Underworld' but he had other matters to attend to."_

Gale was rather shocked that the god of the sea was calling her the 'brave soul who will challenge the Underworld'. By no means, did the girl consider herself to be brave. She was nothing without Palutena to encourage her to move forward. All she did now was in memory of her brother who would've been in her position, if her were here. She was fighting for the both of them…

"_Let's head forward. The power of flight won't last much longer."_

=I=I=

The palace was somewhat desolate. Coral and bits of sea water were here and there, but otherwise it looked abandoned. Monsters were floating about, obviously, but the palace looked like it had been abandoned centuries ago.

Carefully stepping forward, she sniped out a few monsters from afar and stepped out of the shadows, hiding under a set of stairs.

"**HELLO, HELLO, what have we here?"**

Gale jumped and accidentally bashed her head on some of the railing above her. The girl placed her hands on the newly formed bump atop her caramel hair. "What was that?"

"_Thanatos. I presume you know why we're here."_

"**Lady Palutena! What a wonderful surprise! To what do I owe the pleasure? And what's this? A tiny angel visitor too? Oh, happy day!"**

Gale was taken aback by Thanatos' rather cheery and happy-go-lucky demeanor. She had been expected something more… menacing. This was the total opposite from what she was expecting.

"**Palutena, it has been so long since we have spoken. How are you, old friend?"**

"_I can't recall the last time we met to have been friendly. We are here for the key to the Underworld. If you would hand it over without any resistance, we'll be on our way."_

"**Sorry, no can do. Mistress Medusa entrusted this key to me with the utmost care. But I very much look forward to our little tea time, little angel! Tootle loo!"**

"_Well, can't say I wasn't expecting Thanatos to give us the key without a fight. Don't be fooled. He may seem like a clown, but he's plenty dangerous in his own right."_

Gale had finished the last of the monsters and nodded at Palutena's request. She knew she had to get the key, but she also needed to ask him about her brother's fate after Medusa's defeat. Her heart grew heavy at the thought, it was either he survived and went missing or he sacrificed himself to vanquish Medusa. Common sense told her that it was the latter, but her heart held onto the desperate hope that it was the former. Either way, she wouldn't get the answer unless she confronted Thanatos.

=I=I=

The next room threw the girl for a loop. It was entirely iced over. The freezing temperature wasn't pleasant either. Goosebumps ran all along her exposed skin, along with the shivers of the freezing angel. How it stayed this way in an underwater palace was beyond her. The monsters in the room were entirely made of ice as well, wielding ice spears. Gale attempted to fight them off, but several of them cut her with the ice spears. One of them made a swipe at her, but she ducked, causing it to miss her head by inches. Unfortunately, another managed to grab her by the throat.

Gale futilely tried to kick her legs at the monster, but her short legs didn't reach. She could feel her body temperature slowly drop and was losing feelings in her limbs. She couldn't see it, but ice was slowly creeping along her body, spreading out from where the monster's grip was at her throat.

"_Gale! Gale! Get out of there! You have to break loose!" _Palutena's warnings were frantic. The goddess could sense the angel's temperature dropping at an alarming rate.

Gale grit her teeth and forced one eye open. Forcing her near frozen arm to move, she began hacking away at the monster's icy limb around her throat. After a few more tries, the arm cracked and shattered to pieces, causing the girl to fall to the frozen floor.

Shivering greatly, she fired off a charged shot and managed to shatter the monster. She managed to vanquish the other monsters, with somewhat great difficulty. With all the monsters gone, Gale nearly collapsed. She was shivering so bad that she couldn't stay still. Eyeing her near frozen body, parts of the ice remained on her body, even though the monster is gone.

"G-g-got t-to g-g-get out of h-here…" She stumbled out of the room into one that wasn't frozen. With no monsters in sight, she collapsed against a nearby wall. She desperately tried to warm up, anything to get the ice off her body. After several minutes passed, the girl was finally warm enough to move on. The cold was something that the girl wasn't used to. Skyworld was generally warm with the occasional rain. Snow and the cold was a new experience for her. Now that the ice was thawed off her body, she was ready to move on.

=I=I=

The palace had multiple levels, that was expected. What she didn't expect was the elevator leading from the second floor to the third. For a place that seemed centuries old, this elevator was rather… modern. There were no monsters, thankfully, but she was still cautious.

"_Perhaps walking is a pain for even Thanatos. I honestly can't imagine him walking all the way up here."_

"Maybe..." Gale was still trying to rid herself of any remaining chills. Being nearly frozen to death while conscious was not a pleasant experience.

"_There goes the second floor."_

"**Now approaching the third floor."**

Neither females answered. Palutena rolled her eyes and Gale was too busy trying to get rid of the remaining chills.

"**Are you two ignoring me?"**

=I=I=

"_Not too much farther. I can sense that Thanatos isn't that far from here."_

"Uh-huh," was the angel's response. Tightening her grip on her bow, Gale moved forward. The remaining monsters were no problem. Her eyes widened when she spotted another ice monster with a spear. Quickly ducking behind a corner, she carefully and quietly readied her bow. Jumping out, she fired several rapid shots at the monster before it could even notice her.

The monster threw its spear before the last shot connected. The two cancelled out, but Gale slid in and struck it one final blow. The monster shattered into tiny pieces at her feet.

Gale took a deep breath and walked to the next room.

=I=I=

"**Goody, goody! My playmate has arrived!"** Thanatos was floating near the front of the room, laying was probably the more appropriate phrase.

"Thanatos! I am here for the key to the Underworld! Hand it over and you won't get hurt!" Gale had taken a fighting stance, in an attempt to appear more threatening. "I also have a question and odds are, you have the answer."

"**Now, now, no need to be violent. And here I thought you were here for some tea and scones and a nice chat." **His face lost all traces of playfulness and he disappeared in a puff of purple smoke. In a flash, he had appeared in a much more threatening appearance. He had devilish horns protruding from his head and sported a much more lean and muscled figure. The god of death disappeared in another plume of smoke. Gale jolted to attention and looked wildly around for him. She froze when a long nailed finger caressed her cheek. Looking out of the corner of her eye, she spied the remnants purple smoke behind her.

"**Come now, be a good girl. Why must there be violence? Can't we just get along?" **A long forked tongue caressed her cheek, sending shivers down the angel's spine.

Gale jumped away and faced Thanatos. She swiftly wiped away the saliva off her face. _He's trying to get in my head… He's trying to get in my head… _She kept repeating that mental thought, trying to clear her head of any disturbing images or thoughts.

Thanatos snarled and summoned a large double ended spear. He let out a war cry and charged at the girl. Gale yelped and ducked as he made a swipe to decapitate her. The spear passed inches over her head as she leaned back as far as she could. The girl retaliated and made a swipe at the god of death.

Thanatos winced as the girl slashed his torso with her blade. He jumped back and sent a shockwave of energy toward the girl. Gale blocked it with her bow and managed to deflect it off to the side. She started to concentrate a charged shot, but Thanatos appeared in front of her, startling her. He delivered a swift punch to her gut, knocking the wind out of her. Gale coughed up a bit of blood and countered with a swift kick to his knee cap.

The two crossed blades and ended up in a stalemate.

"T-twenty five years ago, an angel faced Medusa and vanquished her. That angel was never heard from after that. You were with Medusa during that battle. What happened to that angel?!" Gale practically growled.

"**You engage me in battle and dare have the audacity to ask questions? Such foolish boldness." **Thanatos clearly wasn't going to answer her question until she beat him. Gale pushed with all her strength and jumped back. Readying her bow she began shooting and strafing.

The god of death skidded back as he was attacked by a barrage of shots. Dark energy began coming off him in streams. **"Now you've done it… I didn't want to do this, but you've left me no choice."**

A large cloud of purple smoke flooded the chamber. When the smoke cleared, a large purple and black serpent emerged and launched itself at the girl. The angel screamed and jumped out of the way. The snake crashed into the wall, causing part of the wall to crumble.

"**Come, now. Let's have some fun, shall we? It's been quite a while since I've been in this form. I haven't had a proper meal in ages."**

Gale could feel the sweat on her body. Thanatos had become much more serious since he transformed. The goofy and clownish nature had vanished and was replaced with a deadly predator. One who intended to make her its next meal. No way was that happening.

Gale started firing as fast as she could, trying to dodge and keep her distance from the large serpent. Thanatos was surprisingly quick and coordinated for such a large serpent. He hissed and slammed into the ground beneath the angel's feet. Gale was sent flying back and landed painfully on her back. She had no time to retaliate before Thanatos wrapped her in his coils.

The girl began struggling, trying to wriggle out in vain, but the coils around her tightened causing her to cry out. She had dropped her bow in surprise and it clattered to the floor. **"Not so tough now, are you?" ** His forked tongue caressed her cheek, leaving a trail of saliva behind. "**Are you watching Palutena? Watch as I devour the last hope for humanity and Skyworld." **Without further word, he opened his mouth wide, exposing fangs and a waiting throat. Gale's eyes widened in terror as she continued her struggles. _No, no, nonononono..!_

"_GALEN!" _ Both females could do nothing as Thanatos brought his mouth down and swallowed the girl whole.

Gale screamed as she was sent headfirst down Thanatos' hot and slimy throat. She reached a slightly more open space and she realized in horror that she had entered his stomach. The smell was nauseating and it was uncomfortably warm and slick from all the slime and saliva. Gale realized that she could move somewhat, she was not entirely restricted of any movement. The stomach muscles clamped down and tightened around the girl. She suddenly felt a tingling sensation that started to turn into a burning. Gale screamed as she saw the acids start to pool up around her. She desperately started thrashing with little result. She saw something glowing out of the corner of her eye. Turning her head, she spotted what appeared to be an eerie glowing gem surrounded by a tangled mess of flesh. Flashes of purple light traveled through the flesh and traveled to the fleshy walls that surrounded her. Reaching out a burned hand, she grasped the gem and managed to rip it free from its fleshy web.

Suddenly, the flesh around her lurched, splashing her with acids again, and she began moving back up the throat. Gale gripped the gem in her hands as tightly as she could. The throat lurched and she was launched out of the mouth and hit the ground painfully in a wet and slimy mess.

Thanatos was thrashing around in pain. Apparently the gem was rather important to him. Dark energy began pouring off him in waves. He let out a roar of pain as he reverted back to his normal form and hit the ground.

Gale struggled to get up and slowly made her way to him. She could see that he was starting to disappear. Gale picked up the pace. She couldn't let him vanish without asking him, without getting her answer. She grabbed him by the shoulders, dropping the gem at her feet.

"Answer me! What happened to the angel that fought Medusa?!"

"**(cough) what are you-"**

"You were there during that battle! What happened to my brother?! What happened to Pit?!"

"**Oh, so you're his sister… Sadly kiddo, I don't know. That big brother of yours knocked me out of the picture before Medusa." **More and more of Thanatos' body was disappearing in dark flames. **"Heh, so who knows..? Maybe he's alive or maybe he went up in flames… The fact is Medusa is back and he's not. Try and defeat Medusa, girly. Maybe you'll be triumphant or maybe you'll join him in the afterlife..?"**

Thanatos had disappeared completely. Nothing was left of the god of death. Gale panted wildly from her adrenaline rush. She took several shuddering breaths and looked at her acid-burned hands. Her overall appearance was a wreck. Her tunic was ripped and bloody. Her skin was burned all over. Tears sprung to her eyes. Thanatos didn't have the answers she sought. She still didn't know the truth.

"_Galen, are you alright?" _Palutena was very worried when the girl had snapped at Thanatos. She didn't realize how heavy Pit's disappearance weighed on the angel's mind. Seeing the normally quiet and timid girl snap frightened the goddess. The entire situation had sent Palutena's nerves all over. She was about ready to have a heart attack when Thanatos swallowed the girl. The relief when Thanatos threw her back up was almost crushing. Green eyes surveyed the girl's appearance. Galen definitely needed a good soak in the spring. Twice, Gale had nearly lost her life today. That was two too many. "_Grab the gem and come back." _Apparently Thanatos had been using the gem for an extra boost in power.

Gale barely registered what her goddess had said. She shakily reached down and took her weapon and the gem in her burnt and shaky hands. The light that engulfed her was comforting as Palutena retrieved her.

=I=I=

Gale stumbled back to Palutena's chamber. She was utterly exhausted, physically and mentally. The green haired goddess turned around and gave the girl a sad look. The girl had gone through so much. Palutena walked over and gently took the gem from the girl's outstretched hand. She ignored the slight stench that the girl gave off, a result of being within Thanatos' stomach. Palutena placed two fingers on her forehead and watched as cerulean eyes closed. Gently scooping the girl in her arms, Palutena carried the girl to the hot spring she had placed near Galen's room for convenience. She carefully stripped the ruined tunic off her prone and wounded body and placed the sleeping angel in the hot spring. The wounds were slowly healing, but the goddess knew the wounds left on her heart would never disappear.

Gale had so desperately wanted answers about Pit's disappearance. When they couldn't find Pit, Gale had locked herself in her chamber and cried nonstop for days. When she had come out, it was as if the girl lost a part of herself. Palutena herself even theorized that Thanatos might know, but in the end, even he didn't know anything about Pit's fate after that battle. And it crushed the girl's spirit. It hurt to not know if he was still alive or if he died that day. Maybe the future held the answers she was seeking. Only time would tell.

=I=I=

Gale woke up later, still in the spring. She gently stretched and assessed her body. Her wounds had pretty much disappeared. The pain had subsided as well. Her mind replayed the events previous. Now recalling what happened, Gale looked at her hands. She didn't get any closer to the truth. But she wasn't giving up. Someone had to know, and she had a feeling that that someone was Medusa. Steeling her resolve, she relaxed into the spring to prepare herself for whatever else was next.

=I=I=

A/N: So the truth comes out. I said Pit would be part of the story somehow. And Galen's identity is revealed. Now that you guys know who Gale and her brother are, what do you think about the parallels of this story and Uprising? I tweaked some things to fit Galen, who is admittedly timid and weaker than Pit, who is confident and strong. I'm going for a darker tone for this story obviously, whereas Uprising was dark and serious at times (toward the end) but they kept it light hearted with humor.

And as for Thanatos, for some reason I always imagined that his goofy personality is a mask. Like he acts that way in order to throw his enemies off guard. The short called "Thanatos Rising" sort of confirms that he has a hidden more sadistic side. But I portrayed Thanatos as much more serious in this version of the story because the tone of the story requires it. I obviously love the light hearted yet serious tone of Uprising, but I felt like a lot of that was because of the breaking of the pretty much non-existent fourth wall and the playful yet somewhat unrealistic banter between the gods and because it often related to the gameplay and controls, which I didn't think would translate well into writing. But for this story, breaking the fourth wall or a lot of banter wouldn't translate or fit well for the overall tone I'm trying to portray. The scene when Thanatos appears behind Gale is a sort of allusion to Skyward Sword when Ghirahim appears behind Link in the first temple. Because the personalities are sort of the same: they appear goofy but are sadistic at their core. And the 'are you two ignoring me' part was so funny to me that I had to include it.


	7. Against the Darkness

"Ok, we need you to get suited up. I must give you applause for becoming as strong as you are now, but I hate to say this, you still aren't strong enough to face Medusa the way you are now."

Gale cast her eyes downward slightly. Part of her was a sad to hear that she wasn't strong enough to challenge Medusa yet. Yet, another part of her was embarrassed and happy to hear Palutena praise her growth.

Palutena motioned for the angel to follow as she walked out of her chamber. Galen obediently followed and reached a small stone tablet. The goddess bent down and her hand glowed a right light. The tablet glowed in response and opened, revealing the Three Sacred Treasures. They floated out of their resting place and into Gale's arms. Her eyes widened in shock as she turned to Palutena for an explanation.

"When I searched for Pit," the goddess began, "the Three Sacred Treasures were all that I could find. These are the only thing capable of standing up to Medusa. Just as Pit wore these, now so will you."

Gale listened and nodded with a fierce determination not to fail. She slowly equipped herself. At first they were slightly too big for her but then the Treasures shrunk to fit her perfectly. Palutena watched in silence as the girl readied herself. When she was done, Palutena could clearly see the resemblance between Galen and Pit. She almost looked like an exact replica of him, only slightly more feminine in appearance and much smaller.

"I'm ready to end this."

=I=I=

Gale tucked Thanatos' gem into her tunic and took a deep breath. Steeling her nerves, she jumped off Skyworld. Her wings flared to life with the Power of Flight. She flew down to a canyon area as Palutena guided her to the entrance to the Underworld. Her heart rate began to pick up. This was it. The battle was finally here. The day she would defeat Medusa and avenge her brother.

"_Are you ready? This battle will not be easy."_

"I might be scared, but I will do whatever it takes to end this war." She was frightened beyond belief, but she was ready to end this. All the pain and suffering Medusa caused will end today. She drew her bow and readied the arrows of light.

=I=I=

The canyon was filled to the brim with monsters. They knew that she was coming. Gale unleashed a fury of Arrows of Light and watched as the monsters vanished one by one. Even Reapers, which she had so greatly feared in the past, were no match for the power of the Three Sacred Treasures.

"_Medusa must be desperate to keep you out. Even she is vulnerable to the power of Light. This is your chance to vanquish her from the world once and for all."_

"Whatever it takes…" Gale kept repeating to herself. She couldn't back out now. She would defeat Medusa and end this battle. ..And avenge her brother.

=I=I=

The entrance to the Underworld had manifested as a vortex of sinister shadows, an immense shadow barrier protecting it. Something glowed from within the angel's tunic, a small spot of light appearing on the barrier in response. Bringing the gem forward, Gale held it toward the barrier and watched as the light of the gem resonated with the barrier. Soon the barrier dispersed, revealing the entrance to the Underworld, an invitation the girl doesn't hesitate to take.

Flying headfirst into the dark portal had sent chills down her spine. The intense amount of darkness should have ripped her apart but the combined power of the gem and the Three Sacred Treasures protected her against that fate.

"_Just a little longer. Hang in there, Gale! You're almost there."_

Unable to give a verbal response, the girl settled for a nod. She could see a bright light at the end. The light blinded her briefly, forcing Gale to close her eyes.

The Underworld was a vast wasteland, void of any life. The skyline a perpetual blood red. Monsters began flooding the area, ready to eliminate the intruder or die trying. Gale dodged and fired, mowing down the Underworld forces in her path.

"_Let's not dawdle any longer. We need to get you to Medusa's stronghold before the Power of Flight runs out."_

=I=I=

The castle was ominous even at a distance. Fitting for the Queen of the Underworld. A large mechanical monster dropped down in front of her. Gale yelped and dodged as it attempted to slice her in half. Two ports on its front began firing lasers at the girl, forcing her to use the Mirror Shield to defend. The shots reflected back at the monster but did minimal damage. She retaliated with shots of her own, damaging the two ports and effectively breaking them. She began aiming at the weaker parts of its armor. The armor began showing damage and began weakening. A large panel on its front opened up, revealing a glowing crystal that began taking in energy. Taking her chance, Gale released the strongest charged shot she could muster and fired at the crystal. The crystal began to crack and the Gatekeeper began twitching and smoking.

Gale made the mistake of lowering her guard. The monster seized her in its grasp and began to crush her. The grip forced the air out of her lungs. Gale struggled to free herself, but the monsters grip was too strong. It began charging the crystal from it's chest once more.

"Not today!"

A figure slammed into the Gatekeeper, causing it to lose its grip on her. Gale took in as much air as possible and turned to see Vitiosus slice the Gatekeeper in half.

"Why am I always saving you?" he asked, though whether he was talking to her or himself was unclear.

Gale glared, but chose to hold back the retort on her lips. He didn't make sense, he only saved her once and that was from Pandora. She was curious about what he meant, but she chose to ignore it. "Why are you here?"

Vitiosus smirked at her. "If you die, then who's going to keep me entertained until my master returns?"

There he goes again about his master. But that wasn't her priority. Her priority right now was defeating Medusa. Turning to the fortress in front of her, she looked back at Vitiosus. "Thanks."

He smirked before flying off.

=I=I=

"**Well, well, well. Look what finally showed up."**

"_Medusa! Your reign of terror ends here! You will pay for all the destruction and chaos you caused."_

"**How valiant. And look, the scared little girl is dressed the same as her big brother. Who knows? Maybe you'll end up just like him? Dead."**

"You don't scare me." Gale replied with seriousness behind every word. "You'll pay for what you did to the humans. You'll pay for killing my brother."

"**Ha! 'Killing your brother?' If I had been defeated, how could I have killed him? I have no such memory of causing Pit's demise. Try using that pea brain of yours, squirt."**

Gale didn't have a comeback for that. Medusa _did _have a point. If Pit had defeated her, then what caused his disappearance? Thanatos didn't know either. Pit had defeated both of them, but that lead to another question: was there someone else in this battle? Her mind jumped to Vitiosus. He had claimed that he was waiting for his master.

"_It doesn't matter. No matter what, Medusa, you will fall today. Your reign of terror and suffering ends here."_

"**Very well. Try to kill me if you can. I eagerly await you screams of agony as I tear you apart."**

Gale felt the cold sweat on her brow. She quickly wiped it away and moved on. She entered a room that held 4 doors. One was sealed off, but the other 3 were open.

"Probably have to face whatever's in the first three before that last one opens." She mumbled to herself. Looking up, she spotted a symbol above each door. One was a set of slash marks, one was a three headed serpent, and another was a flame. Swallowing hard, she entered the door with the slash marks.

=I=I=

"Wait, am I back in the town?" the angel asked as she surveyed her surroundings.

"_Odd, but this seems to be a replica of the town, not the actual town itself. Just be cautious." _

Nodding, Gale entered and walked through the remains of a broken gate. A loud thud behind her caused her heart to jump. Looking back, an angry Clubberskull was rampaging towards her. It swung an enormous arm toward her, recoiling back when it collided with the Mirror Shield. Gale jumped back and began firing Arrows of Light at it. The monster roared and began spinning toward her. Gale managed to duck under its arms and got behind it. Firing several more times, Gale watched as it let out a pained roar and vanished. Panting slightly, Gale moved out of the alleyway and found herself in the plaza. Spying a Reaper nearby, Gale ducked behind the fountain and aimed to snipe it from afar. She managed to get a few shots in before the Reaper noticed her. Rushing in, she delivered a powerful slash at its torso, destroying it before it could swing its scythe.

The angel looked down at the bow in her hands. Its power was so amazing. It could defeat even the most powerful monsters in a few strikes. She could only hope it would work as well on Medusa. Moving forward, she noticed the replica coliseum was damaged and there seemed to be a lot of activity going on in there.

=I=I=

"Twinbellows?!"

Sure enough, the guard dog of the Underworld was standing before her, looking for revenge. It released flame from one mouth and what appeared to be dark gas from the other. The dark gas formed a fog and cut off any external light.

"That's new!" Gale cried as she hid for cover from the flames.

"_Looks like Medusa brought back some old foes to stop you. Seems like they've got some new tricks as well. Be on your guard. You've defeated him once, you can do it again."_

Jumping out and firing at Twinbellows' large form, Gale managed to hit him only because of the flames erupting from its body serving as a beacon in this darkness. It roared and swiped its large claws toward her and slammed her into the wall behind her. she grit her teeth and fired an arrow into the gaping mouth of one of its heads. Twinbellows roared in pain before spewing fire from the other head. Gale raised the Mirror Shield and deflected the fire right back at it. The fire hit it dead on and scorched its insides, killing it.

Gale walked over to the fallen canine and watched as it disappeared in particles of darkness. A bright light erupted from where it lay, blinding her.

=I=I=

Gale opened her eyes and found herself in the same chamber with doors and looked to see that the door that held Twinbellows was now crumbled. Shaking any exhaustion off, she moved onto the door with the three headed serpent.

=I=I=

She was in a forest that looked as if a tornado hit. Trees were uprooted and cracked. There was a large trench in the dirt before her, as if something large was dragged through the area.

"I don't recognize this place…"

"_This looks like the forest that was outside of the town. But why here? Stay on guard, you don't know what's waiting for you."_

"Alright…" in truth this place did seem familiar, but she couldn't place why. The forest aside from the destruction, seemed relatively normal. Gale began walking forward and noticed that there were no monsters around. Having no other clues as to where to go, she followed the dug-out ground.

She reached a river, but the water looked murky. Gale looked at the river and couldn't even see the bottom.

"_It looks like it's poisoned.."_

As if to confirm it, Gale spotted some bodies lying near the river. They were unmoving and had small traces of water dripping from their mouths. It pulled at her heart to think that these people had died because of Medusa's tricks and lies.

"_This looks like a replica, but it seems so real. Looks like she placed those bodies to mess with you. Please, just keep moving forward." _

Gale nodded and swallowed past the lump in her throat. She traveled along the river, and saw from a distance that it led to a lake. Upon reaching the shore, a monster burst up from its depths. Gale raised the Mirror Shield to block the water that sprayed everywhere.

"**Well hello, there. What do we have here?"**

"_Hewdraw?! So Medusa brought you back as well?!"_

"**It has been far too long since I've seen some proper action. Let us make this memorable."**

Gale dodged out of the way as Hewdraw lunged forward. As the middle head got stuck in the ground, the other two heads began firing orbs of energy at her. She blocked the orange ones with her shield, but the purple ones collided with the shield and sent jolts of energy up her arm. _Ok, block the orange and shoot the purple.._

The middle head freed itself and let out a laser, destroying the ground in its path. Gale braced herself behind the Mirror Shield and took the brunt of the attack. She put all her strength into reflecting the beam back at Hewdraw. The beam obliterated the middle head, but enraged the other two.

"**HOW DARE YOU?!"**

The remaining heads began firing rapidly at the girl and used its tail to shake the ground. Gale lost her balance and shrieked when Hewdraw slammed its tail into her. She barely managed to gather her bearings before dodging the energy blasts. Gale shot a charged arrow into the mouth of one of the heads and watched as it collided with the gathered energy in its throat, causing an explosion from the inside. The remaining head roared in fury and dove straight for the angel, mouth wide. Gale split her bow and used it to keep the Hewdraws mouth from closing on her. Jumping back, Gale delivered a swift kick to the lower jaw and slashed while it was turned. The Hewdraw dove back in the water and reappeared to fire orange energy blasts again. Bringing the Mirror Shiled in front of her, the girl reflected the shots back at Hewdraw. The monster roared one last roar before charging once more. Gale let out a battle cry and delivered a swift horizontal slash to the Hewdraw, slicing its jaw in half.

"_Well done. I honestly wasn't expecting Hewdraw to show up, but I shouldn't be surprised. He is a commander of Medusa's army after all."_

=I=I=

One last door, and then she could move on to Medusa. Gale took in a deep breath and ventured forward. The door opened and she could hear a faint laugh echoing from within the passageway.

=I=I=

"Oh no, don't tell me.." came the groan of the angel. "Not her again.."

"_Unfortunately, it is. Seems like Pandora is back for round two."_

Gale bit back a groan of displeasure as she looked around the replica of the Labyrinth of Deceit. She hated going through this place the first time, but now she had to repeat the experience. The place looked the same, but she was sure that there was some tricks and traps waiting for her.

"Here we go again…"

=I=I=

"_You ready? That was a little too close for comfort."_

Gale was currently leaning against a wall, catching her breath. In the last corridor, not only had she started on the ceiling and painfully landed on the floor, but the walls had begun to close in on her with monsters blocking her path to the next door way. Needless to say, too close for comfort didn't even begin to describe what she felt.

"I-I'm… I'm fine… Just a little… winded." She managed to answer between pants. Thank goodness for the fact that she was a fast runner. Once her breathing was under control, she looked toward the door that no doubt housed a revived Pandora.

=I=I=

"**Welcome back."**

"This time, when you get defeated, why don't you stay down?!" Gale charged toward the goddess of disaster. Pandora smiled and simple dodged out of the way.

"**Now where would the fun be there?"** She blew hell fire at the girl, only to have it absorbed and reflected back by the Mirror Shield. The goddess of deceit snarled and charged for the angel.

Gale retaliated with a slash and kicked Pandora away. The two kept exchanging blows for some time, but Gale was slowly getting the upper hand. Perhaps being revived so soon robbed Pandora of some of her strength. Pandora began creating duplicates of herself to confuse the girl, but Gale noticed physical flaws in the copies and was able to identify the real Pandora in moments. Gale charged in for the killing blow, a point blank Arrow of Light. Pandora shrieked in pain as she was overwhelmed by the power of light.

=I=I=

"_Please wait. I want you to have something before you continue."_

Gale watched as a small ball of light descended before her feet and formed a bottle filled with red liquid. "What is it..?"

"_It is the Drink of the Gods, otherwise known as Ambrosia. It instantly relieves the fatigue of whoever drinks it. Very handy for warriors in extended combat. It was also very hard to make, so please use it accordingly._

Gale nodded and pulled the cork out of the bottle, releasing a rather fruity aroma. Gale took a small sip. She immediately felt rejuvenated and corked the bottle and tucked it into her tunic for later. She entered the final door, the one that led to Medusa.

=I=I=

The passageway led to what appeared to be an underground cavern. There were Shootflies hanging from the ceiling, and Gale could feel the temperature drop as she descended further and further.

"_Gale, be-… ful… know… head…-ear…me… -alen…"_

Gale jumped when Palutena's voice started fading and breaking. That wasn't a good sign. Somehow Palutena's power was being blocked from reaching her. "Lady Palutena?"

"**Well, well, it seems it's just you and me, squirt. Why don't you say we just have a friendly girl to girl chat?"**

Shivers went up and down the angel's spine, but she was determined to not let it show. She tried her best to ignore it, but Medusa was determined to not be ignored.

"**I do wonder how you'll get through without Palutena. It was a miracle Pit was able to navigate these caverns by himself. Not that Palutena would've been any help."**

"SHUT UP!" she couldn't take it anymore. She didn't care if she was insulted, but insulting Palutena and Pit had crossed the line. "You know nothing! Lady Palutena would've found a way! My brother made it through because he was strong! Don't insult them!"

"**Temper, temper. Yelling and screaming will get you nowhere. If you're so sure, why don't you prove to me how wrong I am? Can you follow in your brother's footsteps?"**

To taunt her even more, Medusa had conjured up an image of Pit, beaten and scared, looking around wildly. The image's eyes had landed on her and it feebly reached for her. Gale couldn't tear her eyes away from the image in front of her. It was if time had stopped. Slowly the shock and confusion had melted into anger and fury. How dare she! How dare Medusa belittle her brother! That was… unforgivable! With a cry, she slashed forward through the image of Pit, dispelling it.

"**What fire! What untamed power. Perhaps you aren't as useless as I perceived you to be, child. How about you join me? My power far exceeds Palutena's. Who knows? I might even be able to locate Pit." **This time an image of Medusa had appeared in front of her and held out her hand for the angel to take it.

Gale could practically hear Pit's voice screaming at her. He would never forgive her if she sided with Medusa, for any reason. And Palutena had guided her and given her so much, her trust and the goddess had practically raised her. Gale could never betray that. She hadn't come this far just to throw it all away. "Never." With that she walked through Medusa and continued down the path. With or without Palutena guiding her, she would end this battle.

=I=I=

"This is it…" Gale muttered as she stepped before a large door. The frame was designed to appear as many snakes intertwining and coiling around each other, forming the door way. Broken rusty chains hung limply from the rusted metal doors.

Reaching into her tunic, she pulled out the small bottle of Ambrosia and swiftly drank the rest. Tossing the bottle aside, Gale took a deep breath. The glass bottle shattered, but the angel ignored it. She braced her hands against the rusty metal and shoved them open.

"**I am waiting, Galen."**

Gale steeled her nerves and walked through. _Time to end this. I'll finish what you started, big brother._

=I=I=

"**How valiant. Let us end this war once and for all."**

"Medusa, your end has come! I will end this battle that you started twenty five years ago. I will finish the battle in my brother's stead."

Medusa grew to monstrous proportions and used darkness to blow the smaller angel away. Gale managed to upright herself and activated the Wings of Pegasus. Now in control of her flight, Gale maneuvered herself through the storm of debris Medusa was hurling toward her. Large stones from the surrounding area came flying at her with breakneck speed, but the angel countered by shattering them with a charged arrow. A bit of rock flew by, cutting Gale's cheek.

_Almost there!_ Gale was nearly at Medusa this time. Firing the Arrows of Light, Gale managed to strike several of the snakes atop Medusa's head before they could strike. Medusa swiped at the girl with her hand and managed to send her hurtling back to the ground.

Gale grunted in pain at the impact, but quickly took flight before Medusa could crush her with her foot. Quickly rushing forward, Gale slashed at Medusa's ankle, causing the Queen of the Underworld to yell out in pain. The angel continued with another strike, this time up the length of Medusa's leg.

Medusa stumbled to one knee and reached her palm out, spewing out a noxious gas. Gale took in as deep a breath as she could and flew toward Medusa's head. Inhaling as little gas as possible, she began firing off a barrage of arrows at Medusa's head and face.

Medusa let out a cry of agony and the angel noticed fractures beginning to form along the face. Charging her bow once more, Gale shot an Arrow of Light toward the center of the cracks. Medusa screamed and suddenly, her head separated from her shoulders. The head floated to face the girl, revealing the hideous monster that Medusa was all those years ago.

"**YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!"**

Gale swiftly retreated as Medusa began to pursue her. Several snakes shot out, attempting to grab the girl. Gale desperately fought them back, but two serpents managed to latch onto her legs. Crying out as the fangs dug into her skin, Gale began firing at the heads, only for two more heads to bite down on her arms. Slowly from where the fangs sunk in, the surrounding flesh began to slowly petrify into stone. Gale began thrashing as hard as she could in a desperate bid to get free.

"**Now I have you." **

Medusa brought the girl close to her face and smiled viciously. Gale scowled at her and managed to free her weapon hand and sliced directly at Medusa's face, releasing the rest of her limbs. The petrification halted, but the stone remained in some spots. Forcing her stony limbs to move, Gale fired a charged shot directly into Medusa's eye. The monstrous head shrieked and began to head back for its body. Gale then noticed that a dark aura had begun to surround the body. Flying as fast as she could, the girl raced back to the center platform.

The head reattached itself and the third eye on Medusa's head opened. It began to take the dark aura in for the final blow. Gale charged the Arrows of Light for as long as she could and released the biggest blast yet. The two powers collided but the Arrow of Light pierced the darkness and obliterated the eye.

Medusa's body began to crumble and turn to dust. **"NO! NO! NO! How could I lose?!" **The Queen of the Underworld let one last wail of agony before crumbling to dust.

Panting hard, Gale landed and observed the dust that had been Medusa moments ago.

"_Galen! Are you alright?!"_

Gale raised her head and nodded. "Lady Palutena, is that you? What happened?"

"_It seems Medusa was able to block me from seeing and speaking to you. I'm sorry I wasn't of any help. Are you alright? What happened to Medusa?"_

Gale smiled wearily. "See for yourself." she gestured to the pile of dust.

"_Y-you defeated Medusa? Without my help? G-Galen, I'm so proud of you. You've truly grown through this war. Pit would be proud."_

Reveling in the praise, Gale smiled and rubbed the spots on her arms that were still slightly petrified. "Yeah, he would. This war is finally over."

"That's what you think!"

Gale barely had time to react before a sandal delivered a swift kick to her abdomen. Landing on her back, every wound she sustained flared up and began to ache terribly. Raising her head, Gale spotted none other than Vitiosus. "What do you-"

"The time has finally come. The return of my master."

"_**You've been a patient little boy, Viti. Have I kept you waiting long?"**_

"_That voice! It can't be!"_

Pillars of hellfire rose up from the blackness of the surrounding area. Vitiosus and Galen stared until the flames died down, revealing the true ruler of the Underworld, the Lord of the Underworld…

Hades..

"_**I do apologize for the long wait. I wanted to make a grand entrance. But now I am ready to lead my army."**_

"I awaited as you commanded, Master."

"So that's his master..?" Gale mumbled in pain.

"_So the one Vitiosus has been waiting for this whole time was Hades?! This isn't good. Hades is much more powerful than Medusa!"_

"_**Palutena! It is wonderful to hear your angelic voice again. And this must be your young champion. Pleasure to meet you. In case you were wondering, that pile of dust and memories that you just fought was courtesy of yours truly."**_

"_You revived her?! What are you planning Hades?!"_

"_**Giving a vengeful spirit a new body is no problem for me. I simply needed someone to lead my army and wake little Viti while I prepared for my amazing comeback. I'll give you a head-start, Palutena. Withdraw your angel now if you want her to live to see another day."**_

Palutena didn't hesitate to summon Gale back to Skyworld.

Vitiosus walked to face his master. "Your orders, Master?"

"_**Let her recover. It would be no fun for you if you didn't have a playmate for this war. Prepare yourself, Palutena. Medusa was just the opener; I am the main show."**_

=I=I=

"I can't believe it…" Palutena muttered as she tended to her angel's wounds. The Three Sacred Treasures lie nearby, their power mostly spent for the time being. Gale lay on a table in front of the goddess, her tunic lay in a pile on the floor. She winced every so often, the adrenaline having worn off and the pain coming full force.

"It was all a set up by Hades. And now Vitiosus will be joining this battle for certain, now that his 'master' has entered the battle."

Gale lay silent as Palutena worked to reverse the petrification of some of her limbs. She was only half listening. Now Vitiosus would be coming full force. She had to prepare herself. The Three Sacred Treasures couldn't help her; they were drained of all power and need to be restored. She had to fight him with her own strength. "I'll be ready…" it was barely a whisper, but Palutena heard it and faced the girl. "Next time, I'll be ready for whatever Hades throws at me." She turned her cerulean eyes to meet Palutena's green ones. "This battle is far from over. I'm not done yet."

=I=I=

A/N: there you have it. Who else predicted that Hades was Vitiosus master? Honestly, I wasn't trying to keep it ultra-top secret but I didn't want to blurt it out either. What did you think of the chapter overall? I decided that to exclude Palutena from the battle because to me it made the interaction between Gale and Medusa even more powerful. Because it was not only about ending the battle, but it was also about avenging Pit. That's where the illusions from Medusa came into play as well. It was all to build up to their final confrontation. She was purposely toying with what she assumed would be Gale's weakness. I felt like in the game Pit didn't really have a personal stake in this battle. He was fighting because it was his duty to protect the humans, for justice. Plus he didn't have any emotionally scarring baggage like Gale did.

Anyways, Hades has finally come into play. And a fair warning, within the next few chapters, things will start to be completely new. I will include Viridi and her forces, they'll be important later. Some arcs from the game will be removed and replaced with scenarios completely new and some later ones will only be modified to fit this story. Whether you like it or don't, is entirely up to you.


	8. Devastation of Nature

"I can't believe that Hades was behind the whole thing. Who knows what else he has up his sleeve?" Palutena paced back and forth in front of the hot spring that Gale was currently soaking in. "Things just got a lot more complicated. I was hoping that we could end this war as soon as we could, but looks like we still have a long road ahead of us. I'm sorry, Galen."

Gale kept quiet the whole time. Her eyes stayed down and looked at the steaming water. Unconsciously flexing her fingers and then making a fist she spoke. "It's not your fault. You couldn't have known." She shifted to get out of the water. Grabbing her tunic from the ground, Gale stepped out of the spring and waited a moment before dressing. "We keep moving forward. We can't give up now."

The green haired goddess gave the angel a small smile. "You're right. I'm sorry, it seems that I lost my head just then." Her expression calmed. "I'm going to see if I can sense anything. I fear he may be plotting something as we speak."

=I=I=

"This is worse than I thought…" Palutena whispered. She watched countless men slaughter each other. They seemed to be fighting based on lies told by Hades. She could spot Vitiosus speaking to armies, no doubt acting as Hades mouth. "This needs to be stopped." Before she could leave, she spotted something else. "No, she wouldn't…"

=I=I=

Gale kept striking the training dummy she had set up for herself. By chance, she had found some old tomes with various fighting and sword techniques stored in a trunk that had once belong to Pit. They were supposedly for advanced fighters, but she was determined to learn them, she needed to. Though she couldn't recall where Pit had acquired them before his disappearance.

"Galen! You need to leave! There's a huge problem in the human world. I need you to go now!"

Looking back to see Palutena, the angel nodded, placing the old tomes to the side. Tucking her necklace in her tunic, Gale took a deep breath and jumped down.

=I=I=

"What…is this..?" Words could not describe the scene before her eyes. Humans slaughtering each other without remorse. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted none other than Vitiosus smirking in the air, watching the scene before him.

"Vitiosus!" Flying full speed toward the dark angel, Galen readied her bow for a slash only for him to block with his own.

"I was wondering when you would show up. Look who finally grew a back bone."

Gale couldn't hold back the retort on her tongue. "Look who picked up an attitude. I think I liked it better when you had less emotion than a rock." Breaking away, Gale glared while Vitiosus just smirked.

Wings flared, Vitiosus turned to fly off. "My job here is done. I don't feel like playing with you yet." With that, he flew off toward a dark rip in the air, presumably leading toward the Underworld.

"Wait!" Gale tried to fly after him, but the rip closed. "Darn it."

"_! I have to get you out of there!"_

Before she could question it, Gale found her wings carrying her off to another area. Turning her head, Gale watched in horror as a large source of light in the sky crashed down on the battlefield, engulfing the area in an explosion.

Gale covered her eyes and when she removed her arm, she could only gape in shock. The area was now a twisted forest of vines and wood. Looking at the ground, she couldn't see a single human soldier anywhere.

"_There's only one person who could do this!"_

"Well, well, well. Who do we have here? This must be the famous Palutena and her watch dog, Pit."

"_Viridi. Why have you done this? And for your information this is not Pit, but his sister Galen. Make no mistake, she's as formidable a warrior as her brother was."_

"Now that you mention it, she does look too tiny and scrawny to be a guy."

Gale could feel a vein on her head bulge at that comment. Why did everyone she meet have to comment on her size, or lack thereof?

"Now as for your question, it is simple. Humans are nothing more than despicable creatures. Fighting because of what? A few little lies? It is in their very nature to lie and deceive each other! All they do is fight and kill each other senselessly! All this fighting is doing absolute mayhem for nature! My children are weeping and crying out as this pointless fighting rages on! For that humanity must be punished! That is where my Reset Bombs come in! They will wipe out humans and restore nature to its glory."

"Um, who is this?" Gale couldn't help but feel slightly awkward and out of the loop.

"_Viridi, the goddess of nature. Seems that there is now a third party in this war."_

"Great…" that was the last thing she needed. Another army to fight.

"_Sorry, Viridi! But we are not going to sit back and let you eradicate humanity! Gale, I'm sending you in."_

Wings flaring, Gale headed into the dark forest that came from the after math of the Reset Bomb. If not for the grisly way that it formed, Gale would be marveling at the beauty of the nature around her. She had never seen anything like it.

"Like what you see, little angel? Galen, was it? Tell me, have you experienced anything more marvelous?"

"N-no, I haven't. But that doesn't make what you're doing right. Restoring and preserving nature is alright, but there has to be another way!"

"Then tell me, what other alternative is there? Humans cut forests down daily! They taint the very beauty that is nature!"

"_It was a nice try, Gale. But the goddess of nature is known for being stubborn. Just see if you can find any survivors."_

"Oh no you don't! Children, stop the intruder!"

Before she could question it, Gale found herself swarmed by monsters that looked very plant like. "Wah! Pretty odd kids!" She drew her bow and started firing.

"Unlike those monstrosities of the Underworld, my babies are 100% organic. They all come from the very materials that make up the earth. And they are best at protecting themselves and their environment!"

"_Viridi, I will give you this chance. Withdraw your army and ally with us. We can drive Hades back and end this war."_

"Let me think… No! I'll deal with Hades and the humans myself, after we get rid of you! Cragalanche! Get her!"

Out of nowhere, a large boulder came flying at Gale from below. It slammed roughly into her and knocked her out of the sky. Gale let out a cry as she was sent hurtling toward the ground.

"_Gale!"_

=I=I=

"It felt like I fought a mountain and lost… My head…" Gale mumbled as her head kept spinning.

"You're not too far off the mark."

"_Are you alright? That was quite a fall. Viridi isn't playing around, it seems."_

By this time, Gale's vision had stopped spinning. Slowly getting to her feet, Gale looked around. The forest was quite a sight. Vines and branches extended as far as the eye could see. It was one thing to see it from the outside, but from the inside, it made the angel appreciate nature even more. Seeing the beauty of it all, she understood why Viridi was so passionate about saving it and seemed to understand the goddess of nature a little better.

"Like what you see, Galen? This is what the humans are destroying! Can't you see why they must be exterminated?"

"I-I admit this is truly amazing. But wiping out the human race is not the answer. That is why I will stop you."

"_Gale is right, Viridi. Humans are the closest beings to the gods. There must be an alternate solution. Right now, our priority is stopping Hades from bringing about eternal darkness to the world. His plans start with wiping us and humanity out. If Hades were to succeed, who knows what the state of the world will be?"_

Gale took Viridi's silence as her contemplating Palutena's words. The angel looked around and couldn't but feel a tug at her heart when she saw the remains of a soldier near by entangled within some brambles.

"I will not deny that Hades poses a massive threat. But hear me, Palutena. I will emerge victorious in this war. When this battle is over, with both you and Hades eliminated, the earth will be restored to its righteous state."

"_Looks like there's no getting through to her. Be prepared, Gale. Cragalanche is hiding in here somewhere."_

"Right." Came the angel's response as she put a small rock in front of the corpse as a small impromptu grave. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you."

=I=I=

Palutena couldn't help but pity the angel. Though Gale did not remember her life prior to her ascension as an angel, the girl no doubt felt some connection to the humans she was fighting to protect.

At the same time, she was proud of the girl's virtuous and compassionate heart. Though the girl lost so much, she did not let that from keeping her from moving forward, and in turn it shone as the girl's compassion.

"Pit, if you're watching her, you should be proud."

=I=I=

"This place is like a maze.." she pondered as she turned a corner. "Hope I don't get lost."

Several monsters from the Forces of Nature sprung in front of her and started firing. Gale dodged out of the way and sniped a few plant like monsters from the air. In truth, their fighting style was not very different than the Underworld forces. Falling into the rhythm of battle, Gale advanced.

=I=I=

Apparently, Viridi had set up the battlefield ahead of time. It wasn't anything special; just an even slab of rock. In the center sat a large boulder, Cragalanche.

"Cragalanche, fitting name for a mound of rocks…" Gale comments as she walks toward it.

"And what are you? A gust of wind? Cragalanche, get her!"

The mounds of rock gather before rolling towards the girl. Gale jumped to the side, barely avoiding being hit.

"He's fast for being made of rocks!"

Cragalanche turns and extends his arm, attempting to punch the angel. This one she can't avoid however. Gale slides back as the air flies from her lungs. Retaliating, Gale slashes at the rock and manages to chip away at his limb. Cragalance jumps high in the air, aiming to smash her from above. Gale sprints out of the way, causing the monster of rock to get stuck headfirst in the ground. This exposes a large network of cracks glowing red in his backside.

"Is that..?"

"_It seems his defense isn't so impenetrable after all."_

"ARGH! He was supposed to get that fixed!"

Seizing her chance, the angel fires several charged shots into the center of the cracks, chipping away more of the stone. Unfortunately for her, Cragalanche manages to free himself before she can finish the job.

The same cycle of attacks comes toward her, only this time she's prepared. Gale jumps high over him and turns around, firing more arrows into the cracks. As the stone falls away, a large red orb comes into view. Gale launches a charge shot directly at the rock.

Cragalanche shakes before more red glowing cracks appear. He falls over, exploding into bits of rock and light.

"That's it! You just crossed the wrong goddess!"

"And you crossed the wrong angel."

=I=I=

"Well, add another to the list."

Palutena sighed and rubbed her head. Gale stood scratching her head sheepishly.

"Sorry, I tried to avoid conflict the best I could. But Viridi just wasn't going to listen to reason."

"You have no need to apologize. Viridi isn't the most calm of the gods. But I must admit, you've gotten quite bold. Perhaps defeating Medusa did some good for you."

"Thank you."

"Go get some rest. We have more battles ahead of us."

=I=I=

A/N: ….yeah… this chapter was solely used to introduce Viridi and the Forces of Nature. That's about it. You guys can complain about me being lazy and essentially rewriting a chapter with only a few changes. I honestly couldn't think of any other way to introduce her. Or that's just me being lazy… (lol college probs) But you get the idea. I promise that the next few chapters will be new and we will reach one of the most pivotal parts of the story in my opinion very soon.

So for reference for future chapters, when the gods are not physically there in person, Palutena will speak in _italics_, Hades speaks in **bold**, and Viridi's text will be underlined. Again this is only for when they are speaking telepathically with each other.


	9. Gone in a Flash

"Okay, so I not only have to worry about Hades and Vitiosus, but now Viridi and the Forces of Nature as well…" Gale mumbled to herself as she counted her adversaries on her fingers. The whole Viridi incident had left a bad taste in her mouth. She could only hope the god of the Underworld and the goddess of Nature wouldn't decide to do a team up against her. "No… that's not gonna happen… Viridi told me herself how much she despises Hades. I just wonder what else Viridi can do…"

=I=I=

Palutena had been watching the angel from afar. The girl was obviously troubled by her encounter with Viridi. The goddess of nature wasn't one to listen to others. Gale was obviously overthinking this whole situation. Sighing, she returned to her chambers.

=I=I=

The brunette angel sighed as she sat down on a bench. Looking up at the sky, Gale couldn't help but close her eyes and imagine herself flying. Ever since she had first experienced the power of flight, flying by herself was all she thought about. Soaring in the clear blue skies was an amazing feeling. What she wouldn't give for her wings to be healed! That Reaper attack all those years ago had stolen her flight. But she had saved Palutena in the process so she really shouldn't complain. Reaching back and gently tracing the scar on her back, Gale inhaled deeply and exhaled.

Vitiosus was lucky that he could fly. Even though he was a servant to Hades and using that power to wreak havoc and destruction, he could still fly. The fact that he was using his power of flight for evil made her sick. _It doesn't matter. I'll stop him no matter what._

Plop.

Something cold and wet landed atop her hair. Opening her eyes and looking up, she noticed that it had begun to rain. Gale slowly got to her feet as the rain picked up. Lightning flashed followed by a loud crash of thunder causing the girls heart to jump. The angel quickened her pace toward her room.

BANG

Lighting crashed down infront of her door causing Gale to fall back. Looking with wide frightened eyes, the angel scrambled to her feet and took off toward Palutena's chamber.

"Well, well, well. Who is this adorable little angel?"

Gale looked around wildly and spotted a woman with electrified blond hair wearing a blue scarf. Her outfit was very revealing, causing the angel to blush despite the situation. The woman's hand was crackling with electricity and the air caused the girls skin to tingle.

"Who are you?!" Gale mentally slapped herself for keeping her bow in her room. As much as it pained her to say it, she was defenseless if this woman attacked. The woman's electric blue eyes appraised Galen's soaked and tiny form.

"Aren't you adorable. Too bad you're a girl. You're Galen, right? The name's Phosphora." She bent down and gently lifted the girls chin so their eyes met.__She smiled as she gently stroked the girls face. Gale felt a shiver run up and down her spine and she scrambled backwards in a panic. "Ooh, skittish too. Such a cute girl. Be a good girl and come with me." Phosphora lifted her hand toward the girl and lightning jumped from her fingers toward the angel.

Gale yelped and jumped to her feet and sprinted away. _Who is she?! Why is she trying to capture me?! Wait.. _Gale risked a look back at her pursuer and noticed the vines and somewhat natural look to her clothes. _She's a member of Viridi's forces?! _ Lightning flew past her head and crashed into a wall. _She's not messing around! _Lightning struck a puddle at her feet, sending waves of static up and down her legs. The unexpected static caused the angel to stumble and land face first in a puddle. She was about to get up when she felt a foot on her back.

"Nice try, kiddo. But you're gonna need some serious speed to outrun little old me." Phosphora commented in her ear. Gale could hear the crackling of electricity near her ear. She could feel Phosphora place her hand on her back. _Not good, not good, not good! _

Phosphora giggled as she sent waves of electricity down her hand, effectively shocking the girl. Gale cried out in pain before blacking out. Phosphora stood up and examined the girl. She was fairly petite and scrawny. This is who took down Medusa? She didn't look like much, but appearances could be deceiving. The shock had meant to only paralyze but the girls rain drenched form had made it worse than she intended. Hopefully, her plan would work, or Viridi would have her head.

=I=I=

Palutena had rushed out the moment the storm hit. She knew Gale had a fear of thunder and lightning. But she hadn't expected the storm to come from Phosphora, one of Viridi's more ferocious commanders. To make matters worse, Phosphora had found Gale before she could. The goddess stayed hidden as she watched Phosphora knock the girl unconscious. Palutena bit her lip as she watched Phosphora throw the unconscious angel over her shoulder and walk away. Moving swiftly, Palutena ducked into Gale's chambers and grabbed the bow sitting on her bed.

=I=I=

When Gale came to, she noted that her limbs were somewhat responding. Trying to recollect her thoughts, Gale shook her head trying to remember what happened. Suddenly, everything came back to her. She tried to jerk forward but realized that she was tied down. Her arms and legs were spread apart, forming an X shape with her body. There were what seemed to be metal shackles wrapped around her wrists and ankles. Trying to scream only made the girl realize that there was a gag around her mouth. Panicking, Gale looked around trying to see where she was. She didn't recognize where she was. It looked strangely mechanical for something under the command of the Forces of Nature.

"Look who's awake!" rang out a familiar voice.

Startled, Gale shot her head toward the doorway and bit back a whimper when she saw Phosphora stride back into the room. The master of lightning walked back toward where the girl lay. Smiling like the cat ate the canary, she observed the girl's frightened body language.

Gale could feel herself shaking from a mix of panic and fright. She had no clue as to what Phosphora wanted. The spirit of lightning just looked at her with what appeared to be… fascination? Curiosity? She couldn't really tell.

"Why did you bring her here, Phosphora? I gave you no orders whatsoever regarding Palutena." Viridi herself had walked in. Gale blinked when she realized how much of a child Viridi resembled. Though her innocent childlike form hid her true brutal nature. Beside her was another figure, this one much taller and clearly male. His skin had a purple hue and he wore a black suit and had white hair with a white mustache. A monocle sat perched on his eye. He must've been at least twice Viridi's size.

"Mistress Viridi, Lady Phosphora must have had a good reason to bring our adversary here."

Viridi said nothing as she examined the restrained angel. The goddess brown eyes examining the young girl's prone form. Taking her staff, Viridi placed it under the angel's chin and turned her head. Cold brown eyes scanned over each and every feature of the terrified girl in front of her. "Well, Phosphora. I'm waiting for your answer."

"Mistress, we are running out of options. This was the only thing I could think of. If she truly is the one who eliminated Medusa, surely she can do the job. Please understand, Mistress. There are no others within our forces who can do it."

The goddess of nature wanted to scream, but kept her frustration in. Phosphora did have a point, even though she didn't want to admit it. Viridi sighed and walked away. "Do what you want. Just make sure that it doesn't bite you later."

Gale couldn't hide the small whimper that was muffled by the gag. The male surprised the girl when he bowed.

"I am Arlon the Serene. Pleasure to make your acquaintance, though," he trailed off looking the girl over, "I apologize that the circumstances were not better. Mistress Phosphora does keep us on our toes." He glanced at Phosphora who shrugged it off.

Said spirit scoffed. "What other options did we have? Tell me that, Arlon."

Gale felt more at ease when Arlon spoke than when Phosphora did. He seemed much more level headed and mature.

"Please allow me to welcome you to the Lunar Sanctum, Miss Galen." Arlon gestured to the area around him. He waved his hand and the gag disappeared. "Tis a shame that you will not be able to see it in its entirety."

Gale licked her lips before speaking. "Why am I here?" she couldn't hold back the slight quiver in her voice. Her powerlessness in this situation terrified her. She was completely at their mercy and she couldn't fight back.

This time it was Phosphora who spoke. "We have a little problem." A loud explosion sounded as if to defy her. "Ok, maybe not so little. It's that lapdog of Hades'."

Arlon dusted off his suit. "The one called Vitiosus."

Gale's mood quickly turned serious at the name. "He's here?" she unconsciously clenched her fists despite being restrained.

The gesture didn't go unnoticed by Phosphora however who raised her eyebrow. "Ooh, got a little grudge, do we? Looks like some bad blood between angels."

Gale shot her the strongest glare she could muster. "Where is he? Take me to him."

"I do appreciate the offer, but blindly rushing in will do no good I'm afraid. And pardon for the blunt truth, but you possess no means to do battle." Arlon spoke as he placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

Phosphora smirked. "That's why we are here to make a deal. Take out that pest for us and you'll be released back to Palutena."

Though her brain was screaming at her, Gale had to ask, "Why do you need me? Can't you beat him yourself?"

Phosphora glared daggers at the angel. "That's none of your business." She turned away with a huff. "Fine! I'll take care of him myself. Stay there and die for all I care." She walked out of the room and disappeared from sight.

Gale blinked and turned to Arlon. He sighed and rubbed his temple. "Do be careful around Lady Phosphora. She does have a temper." He took in a deep breath. "However, your words were not far off. In truth, Phosphora did do battle with Vitiosus, but she sustained many injuries while he bore little to none. We lost a good amount of our troops. Mistress Viridi was not pleased. A bid of desperation, if you will."

"So, I'm like a last resort?" Gale questioned. Suddenly, another though hit her. "Wait! What about Lady Palutena?! Where is she?"

"According to Lady Phosphora, she did not encounter Lady Palutena when she went to Skyworld. Perhaps she does not know of your absence."

Gale bit her lip as she started to think. _No, that cant be. That storm should've tipped her off. But still… what is she doing? Is she looking for me? She has to be…_

"Going back to the matters at hand," Arlon interrupted her thoughts, "as you can see, we are in dire need of assistance. I do not expect an answer right away. You have every right to refuse, but I do hope you'll see the benefit of assisting us in defeating Vitiosus." He waved his hand and the table lowered to the ground and the shackles disconnected from it, revealing long lengths of chains. The angel looked surprised before slowly getting to her feet. Another panel opened up and a small pillar with a tray of soup and tea rose before the girl. "I have prepared some sustenance for you. Please do try to have an answer when I return. Good bye, Miss Galen." Arlon bowed and exited. The door closed, leaving the girl alone.

Gale looked around and tested the length of the chains, seeing how far she could move. Walking over to the tray, Gale was rather surprised when she was presented with mountain tea and kotosoupa*, two of her favorites. Gingerly tasting both, she found them to be very good, probably the best she ever had. Gale sighed and sat on the floor as she ate. _They need my help. What should I do? I'd be working with the enemy, but we'd also be taking out the bigger threat. What do I do, Brother? _Despite it being not comfortable in the least, Gale lad back on the table and rested.

=I=I=

She was already awake when Arlon returned. In his arms he held another tray of tea and soup. He set it down on the same pillar and looked the girl in the eye. "Do you have an answer?"

Gale took in a deep breath and gave her answer.

"I'll do it."

=I=I=

A/N: I did a bit of research for Greek foods. And I came up with the tea and the soup. From here on a lot of content will be original, using the plot of the game as a basic outline. Explanations as to what happened here will be explained next chapter.


	10. Calm Before the Storm

Arlon took a good look at the angel before him. The determination in her eyes was no joke. Still, as to why she was so determined to fight Vitiosus, that remained a mystery to him. He nodded and clapped his hands once. The shackles around her hands and feet dispersed. The girl looked surprised, but rose to her feet anyway.

Arlon gestured for her to follow. "Come, allow me to show you the damage done. And get you properly equipped with a weapon."

Gale nodded and followed obediently. She looked around in awe of the inside of the Lunar Sanctum. It was very impressive. Arlon stopped and she almost ran into him.

"Here is where he was last spotted."

The angel looked and bit back a gasp. The area had been scorched and the metal had been torn and heavily damaged. Signs of a struggle were evident among the collateral damage.

"This is where Lady Phosphora last engaged him in combat." He spoke as he continued walking. "As you can see, neither was willing to submit so easily. As to how Vitiosus got in, that is something we are still trying to determine." He walked in front of another chamber, this one similar to Palutena's chamber where she could look to the surface. A light shone down and Viridi's image showed up.

"Well, Arlon? Her answer?"

"She has agreed to assist us, Mistress. She lacks a weapon however. Forgotten when Phosphora retrieved her."

Viridi scoffed. She waved her staff and an orb of pink light came down. "Speaking of, where is Phosphora? Is she not with you?"

Arlon shook his head. "She has gone to engage in battle with Vitiosus once more."

Viridi said nothing as she waved her staff and communication was cut off.

Arlon calmly walked to the orb and gently guided it to Gale. "This is a palm, another type of divine weapon. Are you familiar with it?"

Gale shook her head. She was used to traditional bows. This was the first time she had ever seen a palm. Arlon gestured for her to hold out her hand. The orb floated down into her open palm and disappeared into her skin. Bright light shone as lines of different colored light crawled and snaked up her arm, stopping at her shoulder. The light dimmed but the color continued to change as thorn like patterns adorned themselves to the markings on her arm. "Wow…"

Arlon nodded. "In terms of using it, to fire you only need to summon your shots the same as you summoned your arrows. The markings also strengthen and protect your arm should you need to use melee combat." He summoned a target for her to blast.

Nodding, the angel focused her hand and released a ball of energy at her target. Trying some weaker consecutive shots, Gale started firing at different spots of the target. Arlon nodded in approval.

"Very good. You have proven yourself capable of using this weapon. Vitiosus and Lady Phosphora are currently fighting, but the location keeps changing. I've gathered from our troops that Vitiosus seems to be aiming to attack our central power core. Without that, the balance of energy here will be thrown into chaos with disastrous results."

"I have to stop him before he reaches the core, right?" Gale rubbed her wrist where the palm still lied beneath her skin. It was an odd feeling, having a weapon inside you. She flexed her fingers and made a fist. "Don't worry. I'll stop him."

Arlon cracked a small smile. "Bravery is a virtue on the field."

=I=I=

Palutena was still worried. There was still no sign of Gale. Hopefully, she was okay. She couldn't figure out why Phosphora kidnapped her, while it was more likely that Viridi would want her outright dead. Taking a deep breath, she formed a telepathic link to Viridi.

"Great, now what do you want?"

"_Where is my angel? Do not lie; I saw one of your commanders take off with her."_

"Don't pin this on me! I gave no such order! Any damage or trouble was all on Phosphora."

Wait. Viridi didn't order Phosphora to kidnap Gale? Then why did the spirit of lightning come for her in the first place?

"_If you didn't tell her to, why did she take her then?"_

Viridi sighed on her end. "That fool did it on her own. Hades has been a real pain in my side. That stupid lapdog of his won't stop his assault on us. He keeps trying to get me to join forces with him."

"_I take it you said no?" _That would explain why Hades hasn't been causing trouble lately. But Palutena could see why Viridi would make a valuable ally to him. Her hatred of the human race combined with his desire to cause destruction and havoc went perfectly with whatever he has planning.

"Please. Like I would join forces with scum like him."

"_That still doesn't explain why your commander took my angel."_

"… No one else can stop him. Ever since I turned down Hades, he has been attacking us nonstop. Most of my children were either killed or heavily wounded. Even Phosphora couldn't stop Vitiosus. The Lunar Sanctum is about to fall. There is no one else. Gale took down Medusa correct? Surely she can fight Vitiosus."

Palutena bit her lip and thought. _Gale was only able to fight Medusa because she had the Three Sacred Treasures. Plus, Gale does tend to lose herself when fighting Vitiosus… But she's grown so much, both mentally and physically. And I could tell, she wasn't going to make the same mistakes again. Viridi and her forces must be in deep trouble if one of her commanders went behind her back and did this. This is truly a desperate gamble on their part._

"_Keep her safe, Viridi. Or there will be consequences."_

"She'll be fine as long as she does the job."

=I=I=

Arlon and Gale continued their trek through the various areas of the Lunar Sanctum. Gale shifted uncomfortably and rubbed her shoulder where the palm ended.

"So you just get around the whole place by walking?"

Arlon looked at her with what appeared to be amusement. "Yes. There are elevators to travel between the upper and lower levels of the Sanctum, but otherwise we travel by foot. And you? You seem rather accustom to walking opposed to flying."

Gale sighed. Looking back at her wings, she tried to get them to move but like always they stayed where they were. Completely paralyzed and severed from her control. "I- I can't fly. Not on my own anyway." She clarified when Arlon raised an eyebrow. "I got hurt years ago and now my wings are paralyzed and I can't control them or get them to move."

Arlon's face showed no emotion during her whole tale. He merely turned back to the path they were walking. "That is rather unfortunate."

Gale said nothing but shot her head up when the familiar sound of a bow being fired caught her ear. She spotted lightning being fired above her head from a distance. Phosphora soon followed, being pursued by Vitiosus. Gale began concentrating energy in her palm and tried to aim at the dark angel. Unfortunately the two kept moving so she couldn't get a good shot. A shriek of pain from Phosphora disrupted her concentration and she watched as Phosphora plummeted to the ground, unconscious. Arlon teleported down to where she landed, leaving Gale and Vitiosus alone.

Vitiosus smirked viciously and spotted the young angel below him. "Good timing, runt. I was looking for a new playmate. You wanna try to stop me?"

Gale shuddered slightly at the change of tone. Before he was so emotionless, but now he was almost as dark and sadistic as Hades himself. Gale lifted her hand and began firing rapidly. Vitiosus tilted his head and simply evaded each shot. He swooped down and got right in her face. "Nice toy. But is it enough to stop me?" he aimed a left hook toward her face, but missed as she dropped into a crouch and performed a leg sweep, tripping him up.

"I'm here to end your assault. Leave and you won't get hurt."

Vitiosus laughed from where he was laying and jumped back to his feet. "That's rich! YOU trying to intimidate ME?" he split his bow and got into a stance. "This is gonna be fun."

The two charged and Gale was forced onto the evasive when she realized she wasn't armed with her usual weapon of choice. She couldn't parry or block his blows like she normally would. She would have to dance around his blows and wait for an opening. He smirked and aimed a kick at her leg. He made contact and smirked when she cried out in pain. However, he wasn't anticipating her to actually punch him in the face. The strength of the palm she was using gave her punch much more power than she would have normally. He jumped back and spit out a bit of blood. "Lucky shot." He charged and managed to slash her across her torso, causing her blood to fly everywhere. Gale retaliated with a point blank charged shot and sent Vitiosus flying back. A small crack formed on his helmet. He snarled and released waves of darkness at the angel.

=I=I=

Palutena couldn't wait anymore. She used her powers to transport herself physically to the Lunar Sanctum. She gripped Gale's bow tightly as she looked around.

"Why have you come here? Are you really that impatient?" Viridi asked as her astral projection appeared and she crossed her arms.

Palutena kept her face even. "This is taking too long. I need to make sure she is okay." She gripped the bow in one hand and her staff in the other. "Where is she?"

Viridi scoffed. "Do you have so little faith in her that you must continue to hold her hand? Last I checked, she was doing just fine. Really though, why do you insist on checking on her yourself? Do you think she can not handle being on her own?"

Palutena was about to retort when she paused. _Is Viridi right? Do I not trust her battle skills? Do I still baby her?_ It was almost second instinct for her to worry about Galen. For two decades she had been the protector and guardian of the little angel. She was so accustomed to the girl needing her support constantly that it almost felt wrong for her to not be there. Ever since Gale defeated Medusa without her aid, Palutena couldn't feel a bit… unneeded. The girl was growing and aside from the Power of Flight, soon she wouldn't need Palutena anymore. The goddess of light shuddered a bit. As hard as it was to admit, Palutena hadn't really anticipated this day. She had always assumed that the angel would always need her. "Vitiosus is dangerous. Much stronger than you think."

"Keep telling yourself that. She's that way. She's fighting him now."

=I=I=

Gale panted heavily as she gripped her shoulder. Her tunic was stained crimson from her blood and she was bruised all over. Vitiosus had not let up. In fact, it seemed as if he was going all out. He was way different than any other time she fought him. _Was he holding back last time?_ On the positive side, she had landed many blows on him as well and even managed to crack his helmet. The palm had really tested her learning curve. She adapted well, but still had to remind herself that she wasn't using her bow.

Vitiosus was panting and his breaths and words came out like growls. His icy calm had cracked, releasing the dark monster beneath the surface. He was no longer shooting, instead going for using brute force with his blades. The crack on his helmet was spewing darkness. He roared in fury as he charged her once more.

Suddenly she had an idea. _I've got one shot..! _Gale grit her teeth and braced gathered as much energy in her palm and waited for Vitiosus. He charged and brought his blades above his head, ready to bury his blades in her flesh. Gale brought her palm up once he was in range. _NOW!_

=I=I=

Palutena ran as fast as she could to the battle field where Gale was fighting Vitiosus. _I've got to hurry! _She gripped the bow in her hand and looked wildly for her angel. She finally spotted the two below.

And the sight nearly made her scream.

Vitiosus had both his blades buried deep into both her shoulders. Blood poured profusely from her wounds, staining her tunic and the floor below. Gale had placed her powered up hand on his helmet, right where the crack had formed. It was hard to tell from this distance, but Palutena could see that she was using a palm. Palutena couldn't help but stare. She hadn't introduced the angel to any other divine weapon type besides bows. _Where did she get that?_ To her surprise, Gale was fighting just as well as if she were using a bow.

Galen braced her hand against his head and released the blast. The force of the blast knocked both of them back, his blades being released from her shoulders. Gale hit the ground with a cry of pain; Vitiosus stumbled back, desperately grabbing at his helmet as it began to spew more darkness.

"Galen!" Palutena jumped down to her angel's side.

=I=I=

Gale looked toward Palutena and smiled slightly at the familiar face of her goddess.

Vitiosus cry of rage caught her attention. He was thrashing about as more and more darkness erupted from the helmet. Suddenly, Vitiosus' body stilled, his limbs falling limp in front of him as he hunched over. The crack on his helmet began to expand as pieces of his helmet began to fall, exposing brunette locks and ashen pale skin. He lifted his head and snarled, dead blue eyes blazing with rage and agony.

Gale's eyes widened as she was finally able to see his face. Her breath caught in her throat and her world stopped. "N-no… I-it can't be…" she unconsciously scooted back and shook her head in denial.

Suddenly, he was engulfed in a column of darkness and vanished. His dead eyes being the last thing she saw before he disappeared completely. The girl didn't have time to react before she was forced to turn her head and began retching.

"Gale, are you alright?" Palutena asked as she kneeled before her angel. The look of absolute despair and denial on Gale's face scaring Palutena. "What happened? Where's Vitiosus?"

Gale shook her head mutely and her voice was barely above a whisper. "H-his helmet…"

"What about it?"

"I-I cracked it… I-I s-saw his f-face…" tears were silently pouring from her eyes as she shook her head in denial.

"What about him? What about his face?" Palutena was beginning to worry. Gale just wasn't making sense. What was so important about his face? What had she seen that terrified her so? There were a multitude of possibilities running through her head, but nothing could prepare Palutena for the answer.

"P-Pit… I-it was Pit… B-brother… He's m-my brother…"

=I=I=

A/N: So who predicted that Vitiosus was actually Pit? Again, not really a secret if you caught the subtle hints I was dropping, but still enough to keep some readers guessing. My first major clue was during their first battle when he went to grab the necklace; it was familiar to him. The second hint was his interest in her and when he went to save her from the guardian. It was a subconscious reaction to save his sister, but he couldn't figure out where the impulse came from so he played it off and when he said 'why am I always saving you' was him seeing Pit's memories. He had done so often in the past before he vanished, it almost became like a reflex. Again, not really trying to hide it, but hey it kept people guessing about him.

As for the whole, 'kidnap her and take her to the Lunar Sanctum' scenario, it was more so a condensed version of all the Viridi chapters of the game. I didn't feel a need to explain each and every chapter because I felt that it wasn't too important to the plot. And you probably guessed it, the Aurum chapters will not be included. To me, they kinda came out of right field. They did build interaction between the characters, but what actually happened didn't really appeal to me. They weren't that enjoyable to me in terms of story. So I apologize if you liked them, but I will not be writing them. Instead we will be delving deeper into the mystery of how Pit became Vitiosus after his battle with Medusa and Gale's quest to save her brother.


	11. Denial

"It can't be him… It can't be him…"

Palutena watched with worry as Gale kept repeating those same four words for the past several hours. What really worried her was the blank dead look in her eyes. The same look she held for nearly a year when it was clear that Pit could not be found. The absolute denial and despair had really taken its toll on her.

Viridi had sent them back to Skyworld but not before muttering "I guess we are in your debt. Thanks." Palutena had immediately went to work to tending to Gale's severe wounds. Though she doubted the angel really felt anything beyond the heart wrenching pain of learning the truth.

Palutena let out a sigh as she wiped her brow. She still could hardly believe it herself. How could Pit, Gale's older brother who was loving and loyal to a fault, be Vitiosus, the savage, sadistic, dark servant of Hades? Something must have happened after he defeated Medusa. That was the only thing she could come up with. Something that ended with Hades somehow controlling or corrupting him.

Green eyes scanned the angel before her. All of Gale's wounds had been properly tended to and bandaged. The more severe ones still bled a bit but not as seriously as they were before. The girl's hands were placed firmly on either side of her head as she kept mumbling her denial. The heart wrenching truth of Vitiosus had practically shattered her spirit. She had hoped that Pit was still alive, but she could never imagine she would find him like this.

Palutena took a deep breath before speaking. "What are you going to do now?"

Gale had ceased mumbling and looked at the goddess.

"Are you going to lie there and let Hades win?" Palutena didn't want to come off as harsh but Gale had to make a choice. Perhaps if Hades was defeated, Pit would be free. But they would never know if Gale continued the way she was. "Will you let Pit continue to kill all those people? I'm sure we can agree that he would want us to stop him. You have to get up and fight."

Gale had looked at Palutena and appeared in deep thought. She was right, Pit _would _want her to stop him from hurting all those people, even if it meant ending his life. But the selfish part of her told her that doing that would separate them forever. _No, he would want this. I have to stop him._ The hopeful part of her presented the possibility of freeing him from Hades control. Either way, she couldn't continue to lie down and let him sink farther into the darkness. "What's our next move?"

Palutena gave an inward sigh of relief at seeing the light in her eyes return. The fierce determination to protect the ones she loved, a trait she shared with her brother. She was broken out of her thoughts at the sight of Gale attempting to get out of bed. Palutena gently placed a hand on the angel's bandaged shoulder. "Easy. I'm glad to hear that you're willing to fight, but you're still heavily injured. Rest and let your wounds heal."

Gale was about to protest but a sharp pain ran through both her shoulders when she moved. Pit had dug those blades pretty deep. Honestly, Gale had no doubt that if he had buried them any deeper in her, she could have lost an arm. She turned her head to the shredded blood stained cloth on the floor that was at one point her tunic. She sighed inwardly. Most of her tunics were damaged beyond repair and she only had a few left. She turned back to Palutena and blinked in surprise when a spoon came into her vision.

"Here, it'll help. You must be hungry." Palutena offered as she held the spoon out a bit awkwardly. Gale felt the heat rise in her cheeks but opened her mouth so Palutena could feed her. Sometimes Palutena could be such a mother hen. She constantly fussed over her if something were to ever be amiss. It could get annoying sometimes, but it felt good overall to know that someone cared. Gale quietly ate as she just let herself relax before she let herself drift off to sleep.

=I=I=

Palutena smiled as she watched Gale sleep. The renewed determination had been enlightening. She saw the confliction in her eyes as she contemplated on what to do regarding Pit. The thought of the two siblings fighting, especially with the possibility of one dying, tore at her heart. Ever since Palutena had found the two, she came to the quick conclusion that the two were inseparable. The past twenty five years had hit Gale hard. The once bright child who was almost never seen without her big brother had aged into a melancholy, almost depressed, teenager who had lost the last of her family. The bright eyes that searched for her brother's smiling face had dimmed. The ever cheery smile had all but vanished from her face. But once Gale had entered the battle and fought so many hard battles, she was slowly returning to something that resembled her old self. Hope had entered her eyes when she found Pit's amulet. That single sign had given her the strength to move on and continue in his stead. It was too cruel for her to learn that Vitiosus, the dark angel that Gale had come to despise and strive to defeat, was actually Pit, her brother who she loved more than anything.

Palutena turned to leave but not before looking back at the sleeping angel one last time. "Have faith in yourself, Gale," she whispered, "I do."

=I=I=

Darkness. That's all there was around her. But she didn't care about any of that. She was only focused on the mist of darkness in front of her. Running. That's what she was doing. Running toward the darkness. The darkness that was holding her brother captive. She was running but not moving forward. She reached out a desperate hand to save him, pull him from the darkness.

"Give him back!" she cried desperately as she ran forward. "Give him back to me! Give me back my brother!"

"Give him back?" Vitiosus had appeared in a plume of darkness before her. Gale stopped running and looked at him in shock. His voice was two overlapping, Pit's normal tone and Vitiosus much darker and sadistic tone. "What do you mean give him back? He willingly gave himself up. He and I are one and the same."

Gale took a cautious step back and shook her head in denial. "No, he would never. He would never give himself to the darkness!"

Vitiosus grinned maliciously as his helmet split into two and fell away, revealing Pit's face. The dead eyes and ashen pale skin screamed Vitiosus, but all she could see was Pit's face, grinning like a madman at her. He dropped the darker tone and spoke like Pit normally did. "Come on, Gale. I'm right here." he turned back to the Pit trapped in the darkness. "That? That's just my old weak self. I could never have defeated Medusa the first time without a little boost." To emphasize the last word, he held out his hand and summoned a sphere of darkness.

Gale couldn't say anything. Her brain was screaming that it was still Vitiosus, but her heart kept envisioning Pit. She didn't notice the darkness creeping up behind her. Long tendrils snaked their way toward her.

Pit- no Vitiosus she kept telling herself- looked behind her and his smile got bigger, if possible. "Come on, little sister, come here. We'll be together again, just like old times. There nothing to be afraid. Just let the darkness embrace you."

Before she could speak, the darkness ensnared her and began dragging her back. She tried to fight it only for her limbs to be restrained as well. She managed to wriggle out of the tendril covering her mouth and fought desperately to reach her brother. "Pit! Pit, wake up! Come on! Pit!" The darkness had consumed most of her, leaving only a small portion of her face left. "BROTHER!" was her last cry as the darkness took her.

The last thing she heard was Vitiosus cackling as everything went dark.

=I=I=

Gale's eyes shot open as she bolted upright. Her entire body was covered in a sheet of cold sweat. Her sweat soaked hair whipped around her face as she looked around the room. A dream. It was all a dream. Gale ran a shaky hand through her hair and took in deep breaths. Her wounds ached and she gripped her shoulder to find the bandage wet. Cerulean eyes looked and saw that the wound on her right shoulder had reopened. The girl sighed and managed to drag herself out of bed and quickly changed the bandages. It was a bit awkward, doing it with one arm, but she managed.

She slowly made her way to the window and saw that night had fallen. Taking a deep breath, Gale wandered out into the cool night air. Not wanting to go any farther than necessary, the girl sat down on the nearby bench and just gazed up at the stars. The angel shifted so that she could lie on the cool stone. _I remember these stars._ It had been a while, but she could still make out all the constellations Pit had shown her. Reaching her hand up, she used her finger to trace the shapes in the air. Cerulean eyes followed the movement and remembered each story her brother told her about each shape. _Orion the Hunter, Perseus the Hero, Sagittarius the Archer…_ These three she had been told countless stories about. Pit liked to imagine that he was Sagittarius whenever they practiced archery. Or that one day he'd be a hero like Perseus. She chuckled sadly at the memory. _How is it that they're one and the same? Hades must be controlling him somehow. He wouldn't turn to the darkness, let alone become its servant. I have to stop him, but how? What do I do, Brother? How can I save you?_

She didn't notice that Viridi, of all people, watching from a distance. The goddess of nature had hidden her presence from Palutena upon arrival. This angel was quite an enigma to her. When she had heard of the supposed "almighty angel that had struck down Medusa" she had been expecting something a lot more… menacing. The girl was timid and scrawny. She looked like she couldn't hurt a fly. Of course, her recent battle with Vitiosus had changed that view. She had witnessed a side of the girl she hadn't thought possible. The ferocious and determined soul that braved the Underworlds forces and defeated Medusa. Though the recently exposed identity of the dark angel was rather unexpected. When Gale left the Lunar Sanctum, she was nothing more than a shattered soul with nothing left.

As for Viridi being there, perhaps curiosity about her new benefactor. There was something about this angel that piqued her interest. Palutena's overprotective nature of the girl only heightened that curiosity. Sure, before she had sworn to destroy the angel, but it seemed like this little favor had called for a truce. For now. The whole scenario confused her. Vitiosus was Pit? The angel that first defeated Medusa? Why was he now working for Hades? There were so many questions unanswered. _Perhaps, Galen, you hold the key leading to all the answers._ Viridi gave a small smile before teleporting back to her Sanctuary.

=I=I=

A/N: Ok, filler chapter is filler. But I felt this was necessary. The whole aftermath of the previous chapter needed to be explained. Obviously, Gale would be in total denial about it and be hesitant about fighting Pit. The nightmare is something I threw in because obviously it was a very traumatic thing for her. Everything happened so fast for her and then the truth hits her full force and sends her into a bit of shock. Just a heads up, updates might slow down in the next few days because of some stuff coming up, sorry for the inconvenience.

Another thing is you as the reader might question the appearance of Viridi at the end. I felt like this is the start of the bond Pit and Viridi later developed in the game. And now she feels indebted to her because she did get rid of Vitiosus like she promised. This is my telling of Viridi beginning to see Gale in a new light.


	12. Warriors of Old

"Brother…" she muttered for the umpteenth time. Gale just couldn't think of a way to save him. No matter how she ran each scenario in her head, it usually ended up with one of them dead. Another problem was that she didn't have a clue on how to get him to come to her. She laughed at the bitter irony. Before she wanted to stay far away from Vitiosus and focus on finding Pit. Now she had found him, but she needed Vitiosus and he didn't want to be found. The angel took in a deep breath and released it slowly. Sure, stopping Hades was her priority but it inevitably meant that she would be fighting Pit. If she could just figure out how Hades was controlling him..!

"Gale, get ready. Hades is concentrating his troops near some ruins. I sense a powerful presence coming from them. Whatever is there, Hades is after it." Palutena's voice spoke to her.

Adjusting her tunic, Gale grabbed her bow and took a running start before taking flight.

=I=I=

Entering the winds familiar embrace, Gale focused on sniping down any monsters she saw.

"_I've done some research. You might be interested in this. The ruins appeared to be dedicated to a so called warrior from ancient times."_

"Warrior, huh.." Gale pondered what Hades could want there.

"_Not just any warrior. Ares. He was nameless and practically a nobody even though he saved countless lives. It was all because he was a servant for a much more powerful family. But he did not get the hero's treatment like he desired."_

"So the fame and glory went to the family that owned him instead? Is that it?" the angel had a bit of knowledge of how such customs worked. It was a rather sad thing really.

"_Yes. The whole scenario left him bitter. The darkness in his heart festered. No doubt he was hoping to be free and recognized if he was a hero. But when he didn't get what he wanted…"_

"What happened?"

"_He pleaded for power and his wish was heard from the Underworld. He went rogue. He then slaughtered his masters and began going on a path paved with the blood of his victims. He demanded recognition and the glory that was stolen from him. He wanted to be treated like a god."_

"A god...?"

"_Yes. The people gave him what he wanted out of fear of being killed. The ruins you are headed to were built to please him. He was a merciless and ruthless killer who did anything to get what he wanted. Very few knew his face, they say he was always in his armor. Seeing his actual face meant death, apparently."_

"That's rather harsh isn't it? Just for seeing his face..?"

"_Back then, seeing one's face meant that you were on equal grounds with them. He obviously didn't want to be considered anyone's equal. He continued his rampage until his death. According to the books, a brave young soul dared to stand against Ares. They fought a great battle, but in the end the young hero proved victorious. However…"_

"What? What happened?"

"_They died of their wounds later. Ares cursed them with his dying breath. And apparently his hatred and anger let his soul remain in the world, even after his body perished. A sage appeared and sealed Ares' soul into his armor to prevent him from doing any more damage to the people. His armor was sealed away in the ruins of the temple that was built for him and no one ever dared go near it. Some say that his soul waits for a strong warrior to wear his armor so that he can exact his revenge on the people that humiliated and defeated him."_

Gale took this all in and came to a conclusion. _Wait, does that mean… _

"_You and I are on the same page apparently. I strongly believe that Hades had forced Ares armor onto Pit and that's is how he's being controlled. Ares soul is corrupting him. And if the Underworld is what gave Ares his power in the first place…"_

"It'd be no problem for Hades to control him." Gale clenched the bow in her hands. She had to get that armor off him! "Do you think that there is a way to save Pit..?" she asked above a whisper.

Palutena hesitated to answer but sighed. _"It's possible if we can get the armor off him. But remember you first found him encased in shadow crystal. That crystal probably strengthened the darkness of Ares soul and gave him a great hold over Pit. Perhaps at this point, the armor no longer houses Ares soul and it moved on to Pit. At this point, I don't know... if Pit can survive being separated from Ares. They've been bonded for so long…"_

Gale felt tears prick at her eyes but she forced them back. "I have to try. I can't let Hades control him any longer."

Palutena was speechless. She clearly underestimated the girls love for her brother. Gale was willing to try to separate them, even knowing that Pit might not survive it. Gale was ready to do all it takes to save her brother from Hades control. Her determination and love for her brother is her driving force in this battle.

"What would be in the temple that he would need?" Gale questioned as she evaded fire from the Underworld forces.

"_The book says that Ares sword was the most powerful of his arsenal. A majority of his power came from this supposedly cursed sword. Supposedly, it was the source of his cursed power."_

"But shouldn't Hades already have his sword if he got the armor?"

"_It says here, that after the hero's death the people used the hero's sword as sort of a seal to prevent Ares' from returning at full power. The hero's sword is what is keeping the source of Ares' power from leaving the ruins."_

"But what makes Hades think that Vitiosus (she refused the call him Pit in that dark state) can retrieve the sword? In fact, why didn't he try earlier?"

"_Perhaps at the time, Ares soul wasn't strong enough to reclaim his power. It says here that Ares' soul was put into a deep slumber prior to being sealed away. Maybe he was not fully awakened and not strong enough to break the seal and reclaim his sword. Maybe when you cracked Vitiosus' helmet, it weakened the seal binding him to the armor and keeping him subdued."_

Gale's face lost it's color and she felt something her heart stop for a moment. _Because I…_ "I-it's my fault…?"

Palutena jumped when the words left the angel's mouth. She had not meant to phrase it that way. _"No, it is not your fault. If anything, it is Hades' fault for releasing Ares in the first place! You could not have seen this coming! It is not your fault, understand?"_

"Y-yeah, you're right.." the tone wasn't too convincing, but Gale was still thinking about Ares' background. _He just wanted someone to see him and not the family that owned him. He wanted to be seen as his own person, not overshadowed by another…_ Gale couldn't shake the eerie feeling she was getting. The two of them had similar problems: Ares was overshadowed by his owners, and she was stuck in the shadow of Pit for a while. But what made them different was that Ares let those dark feelings consume him. Gale used her own strength to get where she is now. But still the feeling lingered. _Could I have ended up like Ares..? _If Palutena wasn't there to support her…. Gale shuddered.

=I=I=

The ruins were located in a desolate area and clearly worn down by age. The entrance to the underground was blasted open, though it was not recent. Gale cautiously descended and looked around.

The sight of skeletons and corpses being hung from the walls and ceiling was enough to make her gag. Clearly Ares was someone who harshly and mercilessly punished people. He clearly led through power and fear.

"I don't like the look of this…" she mumbled as she kept walking. She noticed that Ares also had displayed the decapitated heads of his foes, which nearly gave her a heart attack when she saw a skull staring back at her. Ares must have been such a cruel and heartless person.

"_Heads up, I can sense the presence of the Underworld. It's not too far from where you are right now."_

"**Hello, Hello!"**

Gale let out a startled shriek and accidentally crashed into a nearby skeleton. Startled, the angel backpedaled away only to trip on the leg of another corpse on the floor and crash to the ground.

"**Oh, dear me. My bad, my bad."**

"_Hades! What could you want now?!" _

"**Aside from old Ares' blade, just popping in for some friendly conversation. Come, Palutena, cant we just converse and be civil?"**

"_You being civil? Sorry, the title Lord of the Underworld doesn't bring civil to the mind. Tell me, how did you retrieve the armor in the first place?"_

By this point, Gale had gotten back on her feet and had begun walking again.

Hades let out a low chuckle. **"Breaking the petty seal that the old fart that kept the armor bound to the temple was no problem. Sadly, the sword is another matter. Needs it's old master before it leaves this dusty old place. The hero's sword is another pesky matter. Seems like it's blocking off where the sword is hidden. But if I just get rid of that, old Ares can go back on his rampage."**

Gale had begun to pick up the pace at this point. She could feel the dark presence that cloaked Pit nearby. Sweat began beading at her forehead. He was nearing the sword. She could feel it.

"_If you could break the seal, why can't you retrieve the sword?"_

"**Apparently blood seals are more potent than I anticipated. Took some of Ares' blood, wrote the seal on the sword with it, and BAM! Unbreakable seal that only Ares' soul can break apparently."**

"_Seems rather counterproductive. If the seal was set to keep Ares power locked away, then why is he the only one who can break it?"_

"**Like I would know what the old sage was thinking. I'm Lord of Darkness not a fountain of knowledge."**

=I=I=

Gale dodged out of the way of another trap. The deeper she went in, the more complicated and dangerous it got.

"**Hello again!"**

"Ah!" Gale jumped at Hades voice and nearly got shot by more arrows.

"**Jumpy are we? Fun fact before the battle! Ares' armor was very picky. It wouldn't allow any of my commanders to wear it. I even tried making it a body, but Ares' was all like NOPE and rejected that too."**

Gale growled at this new information. "Is that why you forced it on my brother?! Because it was the only thing Ares' soul would allow?!"

Hades let out a very low and dark laugh. **"Spot on, shrimp. Pitty-Pat was the only acceptable vessel to be used as my puppet. Even then, some adjustments had to be made. Pitty's soul was too bright. Had to darken it before Ares' could move in."**

Gale felt her blood boil. She swallowed her anger and decided that stopping Vitiosus was more important than yelling at Hades. She dashed down the corridor firing her bow at every enemy in sight.

=I=I=

When she reached the chamber, Vitiosus was already waiting. He had no helmet, leaving his (or rather Pit's) face for the world to see. The dead blue eyes seemed to light up at the sight of the angel. "Well, well, well. Look who's here." his voice had taken two tones, like in her nightmare. Pit's voice resonated slightly out of sync with Ares.

"Vitiosus. Or should I call you Ares now?"

He smirked and stepped toward her. "Vitiosus was merely the calm before the storm. I, Ares, will bring about a maelstrom of chaos and destruction in honor of my return."

Gale hardened her expression and grit her teeth. She had to resist every urge to jump him and rip that armor off him right there and now and beat him until he left her brother.

Ares smiled maliciously at her. He drew his bow and split it into the dual blades. He regarded the blades as if there was something peculiar about them. "You know? In the short time I've been awake, I've come to appreciate your presence."

"Really? How so?"

"You've got spunk. No matter how many times I beat your tiny body, you always seem to return for more. You remind me of that kid from all those years ago." He suddenly took a somewhat more sullen look. "Did you know, Galen? The one who struck me down all those years ago was my own sister?"

Gale's eyes widened at this information. She didn't know that. Shivers ran down her spine. What happened in the past and the situation now… it was all coming full circle.

"You see why I find this intriguing? Brother and sister pitted in battle against one another once more. But this time, who will be victorious?" Without warning he charged, blades drawn and ready to tear the angel to pieces.

Gale back flipped out of the way and fired several shots. Ares fired arrows of his own and canceled them out. He let out a mad laugh as he charged right for her. Gale ducked as he made a swipe for her head. She crouched down low, trying for a leg sweep. Ares jumped and kicked her in the head, sending her crashing back. Gale spit out a glob of blood and got to her feet. That kick might've knocked a tooth loose, but Gale was not about to let that distract her. She let out a few strafing shots and watched as Ares deflected each one.

_I have to end this soon. I'm not gonna last much longer if he keeps this up. _She quickly scanned her surroundings to find Ares had suddenly vanished. _What?! Where did he-_

Thrown off guard, Gale felt something hard crash into her back, sending her crashing to the ground. Ares sat on top of her, straddling her torso with his hips. The angel felt panic rise when she felt his blade tug at the cloth on her back. A gentle ripping sound reverberated in the chamber as he carefully sliced open her tunic, exposing her back to him. Shivers ran up and down the girl's spine when his cold fingers caressed the scar on her back.

"Good show, brat. But it's still not enough to best me." She could practically hear the smile in his voice. "Such a shame. Such potential wasted on such a pathetic deity."

Gale growled in response and tried to throw him off her. "Don't insult her."

Ares threw his head back and laughed. "Touch a nerve did I? Speaking of nerves," he gently brushed the feathers of her wings, "it's such a pity that Palutena can't do anything about this. I'm sure Hades could though."

"Listen, Ares, you can do all you want to me. But never insult Lady Palutena and I will NEVER join Hades!"

Gale had managed to discreetly ready her bow and swiftly swung backwards, causing Ares to jump off her. The girl jumped to her feet and readied for weapon.

"Little prick." Ares began firing at an incredible speed. Gale jumped out of the way and began returning the volley of fire. One shot had miraculously hit Ares in the shoulder, temporarily stunning him. Gale rushed in for a slash, but Ares recovered in time to kick her away.

"I've grown tired of this!" letting out a roar, waves of darkness began pulsating off him. Gale tried to withstand it, but ended up getting sent flying into the wall. She slid down, wracked with pain. Ares began walking toward the hero's sword that stood at the head of the chamber infront of a wall covered in runes.

"_Gale, please get up! Please!"_

"'**Atta boy, Ares!"**

Ares placed his hands on the sword's hilt and began lifting it up. It didn't budge at first, but slowly it began to inch out of the stone pedestal.

Gale slowly climbed to her feet and braced herself against the wall for support. Her bow lay across the chamber, having been sent flying when she did. She began dashing toward Ares, trying to tackle him away.

Unfortunately, she was too late. Ares had completely removed the sword. Glowing white runes spread throughout the chamber before turning a demonic red and black. The wall in front of him crumbled, revealing a black sword that was cloaked in darkness and held in place by glowing white chains. The chains turned the same color as the runes in the wall before corroding and shattering. Ares let out a triumphant laugh before turning and catching Gale on the hilt of the hero's sword. The air rushed out of the girl before Ares tossed her aside. Ares tossed the hero's sword aside before walking to reclaim his blade. The angel struggled to get to her feet. She quickly grabbed the sword lying next to her and charged at the dark angel. A loud clang reverberated through the room as Ares brought his sword to block the strike. Ares let out a chuckle before it escalated into mad laughter. He concentrated a sphere of darkness between them, sending Gale flying back when it exploded.

"Too late, squirt!" Darkness cloaked his form as it extended from his sword. "Prepare yourself, Galen. Next time, only one of us will walk away." He disappeared as the darkness took him completely.

"_Gale, are you alright?!"_

"I'm sorry. I couldn't stop him." A few stray tears leaked out of her eyes as she stood up.

_Don't give up._

Gale jumped at the new voice. It clearly wasn't Palutena. She looked wildly around the chamber for the source of the voice. When she couldn't find it, her eyes traveled to the sword that lay by her feet. It had taken on a light glow in the dim light.

_You possess the strength to fight. Only you can fight him._

Shaky hands gently picked up the sword. Gale closed her eyes and focused on the voice. A light overtook her consciousness as she held the blade.

When she opened her eyes, she was in a completely white space. Blue eyes looked around the void she was in, there was nothing in sight. Looking back in front of her, she jumped when she noticed she wasn't alone.

The girl in front of her was around the same physical age. Her long blonde hair gently tumbled over her shoulders. She was dressed in a white tunic, similar to the one Gale was wearing. The two girls shared the same cerulean eyes. The blonde smiled apologetically.

"I'm sorry. This is my fault."

Galen blinked in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"I am Philophirosine. Philo for short. I was Ares sister."

Gale nearly jumped back in surprise.

"I could not let my brother continue the way he was. But it was not enough. His soul lived on, anchored to this world by hatred, while my spirit passed on. I'm sorry that history is repeating itself through you and your brother."

"It's not your fault. You couldn't have known."

Philo smiled. "I can do little as I am right now. But know this. If your love for your brother is great enough to awaken his spirit from Ares' control, you can separate them. Your light should be enough to break the darkness Ares' is using."

For a moment the angel felt a ray of hope enter. It was possible. She could separate them. She could save her brother!

"But be warned. To reach your brother in the darkness, you must delve deeper into the darkness surrounding him. You must not let your light be consumed by the shadows. But it is the only way to save him. Their spirits are intertwined right now. Ares has locked your brother in the shadows so he cannot resist. Once your brother awakens it should begin to loosen the hold Ares has on him."

The angel took this in while nodding vigorously.

Philo stepped toward her. She gently took both of Gale's hands in hers. "Take my blade. It will be key in reaching your brother in the darkness." Philo began to fade into the whiteness surrounding them. "Be brave, Galen. You can free him and end Ares return. I know you can."

=I=I=

Tired blue eyes fluttered open as Gale regained consciousness. She was still standing in the ruins. She looked down at Philo's blade in her hands. Philo's last words to her kept playing over and over in her head. _I'll end this. I'll finish what you couldn't, Philo. I'll save Brother and defeat Ares._

=I=I=

A/N: And so more is revealed. For those who aren't well versed in Greek Mythology, Ares is the god of war and is known for being violent and enjoying bloodshed. Obviously here he is not a god, but the personality stays true. Ares involvement in the story will be a major plot point and perhaps many of you can see where this is going and how its going to end. Philo's name also comes from mythology. The site where I got her name may or may not have gotten the spelling wrong, but it doesn't matter too much. She and Ares are not related in mythology, but they are here for sake of the plot.

And if anyone is confused for the whole 'use Ares own blood to seal the sword and he's the only one that can open it' scenario, the sage and people, after sealing the armor away, didn't really think that anyone would be foolish enough to retrieve the armor and free Ares. Obviously, they didn't know Hades would use this later. Philo's sword was used to hide it, while it was sealed away. They didn't expect Ares to return in the future. But hope that clears that up for anyone confused.

It may seem like I kinda jumped the gun on the whole backstory thing, but honestly it could totally happen with Palutena if she really did her research. Another thing is obviously, Gale refused to believe that Pit sided with Hades willingly and came to the conclusion that he's being controlled. Something I want to mention are the names, mainly Galen and Vitiosus. Galen is Greek in origin and roughly means calm or tranquil, fitting for her I felt; though generally used for boys, I think it was fine to use for a girl, especially considering she normally goes by Gale. Vitiosus is Latin and means corruption, vicious, defective, morally faulty. Just a bit of trivia I wanted to share.


	13. Set in Motion

Gale swung at the target she had set up. She was practicing with Philo's sword in preparation for when she fought Ares. Philo had told her that it would be key in saving Pit. Gale prepared herself and trained until using the sword was second nature. She reached into her pocket and pulled out Thanatos' Gem that allowed her access to the Underworld. That's where Ares was.

"I see you're working hard as always." Gale didn't need to turn around to be told who was behind her.

"I have to get used to using this sword. It's the only way I can save him." She didn't even turn to greet the green haired goddess.

"You won't be able to save Pit if you're completely exhausted. Get some rest." she gently laid a hand on the girls shoulder. The angel whipped her head around, giving Palutena a good look at her face. Her blue eyes had dark shadows beneath them and her face showed exhaustion thought the girl tried to hide it.

Gale nodded slightly, feeling a bit light headed. "You're right." Without a word, she walked toward her quarters with the sword in tow.

=I=I=

Gale awoke the next day feeling well rested and ready to head to the underworld. She had no dreams that night, but she supposed that was a good thing. She quickly got dressed and dunked her hair into the nearby water bucket and splashed the last bits of sleep away. Wiping soaked caramel locks out of her face, Gale grabbed the sword and her bow from the corner of the room. The sword sat strapped at her belt. She grasped her necklace tightly in her hands. _Just a little longer, Brother. Wait for me. I'll save you._

=I=I=

"_The entrance to the Underworld should be in the same location as it was before. I've managed to follow where Ares is in the Underworld, as well. I'll guide you once you get there."_

Gale nodded and brought out Thanatos' gem and opened the gateway once more. Without hesitation, she flew through it. The gem reacted and protected her against the waves of darkness leading to the Underworld. This time however, where she ended up was not a desolate wasteland. The dark rocky walls around her reflected the glow from the crystals embedded in the walls.

"Where am I? This doesn't look familiar." She tried to find anything that she could recognize from the surrounding area, but could find none.

"_Behind you!" _

The angel had barely enough time to react, just avoiding being assaulted by a large black shape. The shadow stopped to reveal itself to be a large hand with a single blood red eye at the center of it's 'palm'.

"What is that?!" Gale took off before the hand could make another attempt to grab her. Several more sprung from the surrounding darkness, joining in the chase.

"_Not sure! Just keep moving! I'll find you a way out!"_

Gale turned around and started firing her bow at the hands. Unfortunately, her shots phased right through them. The eyes opened wider and began firing crimson shots toward the retreating girl. Gale managed to block them with her bow and fired again. One shot had it the eye and it shrieked in pain. Taking careful aim, she began firing at the crimson eyes. Though effective in stunning them, it did little to actually harm them.

"_Hang on! Almost out of this cavern!"_

Gale didn't have time to react before she flew through a narrow passage. The hands chasing her got stuck when they tried to get inside after her all at the same time. She was nearing the other side of the passage when the light got brighter, forcing her to close her eyes. Opening her eyes carefully, the angel stared at the large crater like pit in front of her. In the center of it, stood a fortress similar to the one Medusa resided in. The area around it was a volcanic field with lakes and rivers of lava pouring into the chasm below the fortress.

Before she could move forward, something slammed hard into her. Spinning uncontrollably, Gale could see through her spinning vision that Ares was smirking maliciously at her.

A shadow hand sprung forward and grabbed her mid air. Gale cried out in pain as it tightened its grip on her. Several more shot out and joined the first. The shadows began melding together and expanding, engulfing the girl's body. The shadows formed a sphere of darkness around her before slowly shrinking, forcing the girl to curl up to prevent from being crushed. Gale forced one eye open to glare at Ares as smoky darkness filled the sphere. She heard Palutena's voice slowly fade to static as everything went dark.

=I=I=

Palutena's heart nearly stopped when she witnessed Gale's capture at Ares' hand. This wasn't good. This wasn't supposed to happen! How could Ares have possibly grown so strong in such a short amount of time? Something told her that Ares was anticipating Gale to pursue him. He was waiting for her so he could capture her.

Palutena resisted the temptation to venture down to the Underworld herself. Doing so would be a suicide mission. She couldn't risk getting captured as well, even though every fiber of her being was telling her otherwise. Palutena clenched her fist as she considered her options.

=I=I=

Darkness. She was drowning in darkness. At least that's what it feels like. Having no sense of up or down or left or right, it was like being underwater. It was dark and cold, chilling her to the very core. She heard a faint voice calling her name. Though her eyelids felt like lead, she forced her eyes open to see a hand, bigger than her own, reaching toward her. Tiredly reaching out her own, she grasped the person's hand. Their hand gripped her wrist and pulled her toward them. She felt herself moving out of the darkness, it's icy feeling leaving. As she was pulled out, the sleepy and tired feeling left, causing her to awake more and more. Her cerulean eyes locked onto a pair the same shade of blue as her own. Blinking the sleep out of her eyes, she realized that she was face to face with her own brother. He smiled at her before disappearing. Gale was about to cry out his name, but everything faded to white.

=I=I=

"AH!"

Ares jumped back in shock as the dark sphere before him began to crack. The cracks spread, letting an intense light shine out. The sphere shattered completely, causing the angel trapped inside to fall to the floor.

Ares did not say anything as he watched the girl writhe on the floor, gasping for breath. How intriguing. She was somehow able to break out of the darkness. The deep slumber she had been in had been cracked somehow. He wondered, what did awake her spirit? He walked over to the angel who had managed to get control of her breathing. She had just enough time to glare at him before he kicked her harshly in the ribs.

Gale let out a scream of pain as she flew back. Landing on her back, she noticed she was inside the fortress, in what appeared to be a throne room of sorts. Ares looked down at her before grabbing her by the collar. He looked her over in what appeared to be a praising manner. He smirked as he took both of her weapons and threw them across the room. The girl watched helplessly as the clattered to the floor. A hand roughly grabbed her chin, forcing to look at Ares' face. His hand at her collar brushed the gem around her neck, causing it to glow slightly and burn his hand.

He growled and gripped her neck with both hands, strangling her into unconsciousness. Her body fell limp to the floor. Ares snapped his fingers and two shadow versions of the girl appeared and grabbed her by the arms, lifting her from the floor. Without a word, the shadow angels dragged the unconscious girl down the corridor. Dead blue eyes traveled down the slight burn on his finger. How had that burned him? He shook it off and proceeded to sit on the throne at the front of the room.

=I=I=

Drip. Drip. Drip.

The constant sound of dripping water brought the angel back to her senses. Her neck was sore and she wracked her brain for the reason. Right. Ares had strangled her until she passed out. Gale attempted to bring her hand to rub her neck to ease the pain, only to find that she couldn't move her hand. The sound of rattling chains filled her ears causing her to realize that her arms were bound by chains. Her arms were forced away from her, causing her body to form a T shape in the cell she was kept in. Both of her feet just barely touched to floor without putting too much strain on her arms. Her head whipped around wildly, trying to figure out where she was.

Four crimson lights from the darkness caught her eye. The lights revealed themselves to be the glowing eyes of the shadow angels.

Gale nearly jumped when she realized that they were shadow versions of her. They watched her for a moment before walking away.

A drop of water hit her shoulder, causing the girl to shiver. It was then that she realized that she was missing her tunic, being stripped down to her underclothes. Her shoes were missing as well.

Gale tugged at the chains binding her arms. After a few minutes, she stopped. "No good," she mumbled, "I cant break free." Turning her head as fat as she could, she could just barely make out the cold stony walls of her prison. Fighting back tears, she looked toward where the shadow angels had disappeared. "Brother…"

=I=I=

"You coming to ME for help? What do you think you're pulling?"

Palutena flinched at Viridi's harsh tone. She figured it was best to talk face to face. Taking a deep breath, she continued. "Please, Viridi, I beg of you. Grant me this request."

Viridi pursed her lips as she considered her options.

The goddess of light met her gaze. "You do technically owe her for chasing off Vitiosus from the Lunar Sanctum."

Viridi was about to retort but stayed silent. "So Vitiosus is actually her brother? The famous Pit who supposedly slayed Medusa 25 years ago?"

Palutena nodded in confirmation.

"So now he's being possessed by that crazed warrior Ares from the legends and is being used by Hades? And she went to snap him out of it and got captured in the process?"

Again, Palutena nodded. Viridi had put it rather bluntly.

The goddess of nature's hazel eyes searched for any deceit from the goddess of light. Closing her eyes, Viridi let out a big sigh. "What is you want?"

Palutena felt a ray of hope. "I only ask that should anything happen to me, you look after Galen."

To say Viridi was surprised was an understatement. She had honestly expected Palutena request that she send some of her forces to rescue the angel. Instead she was asking this?

Palutena continued, seeing Viridi's look of utter confusion. "I will not ask you to fight this battle. This battle is ours and ours alone. I instead ask that should anything happen to me, you look after Galen."

"What about you?"

"I am going to the Underworld to free her, to fight Ares myself. Whether I will emerge victorious or not is unclear. However, if my defeat means that she will be safe, then so be it." To emphasize the seriousness of the situation, Palutena then bowed on her hands and knees while keeping her head lowered. "Please grant my request, goddess of nature."

Viridi was stunned. She hadn't expected her to be so devoted and protective of that one single angel. If Palutena was willing to accept death in exchange for Galen's life then… "You have my word."

=I=I=

A/N: End of Chapter! So how many of you were expecting Palutena's request for Viridi? The moment I began writing this chapter, I knew that Gale would not be able to face Ares head on. So her capture was inevitable and protective Palutena panicked. I wasn't sure to what extent she would be willing to go for Pit because it isn't explicitly stated in game, but I'm willing to bet pretty far. So that gets mirrored here when she bows before Viridi and practically begs her to take care of Gale. But on the plus side, we are actually nearing what I consider arc 2 of this story. Arc 1 would be everything leading up to Medusa's defeat and Hades return. There will be about 4 arcs I want to say. But honestly, tell me what you think of this story.

Something I want opinions about is music. I strongly believe music can really set the tone for stories and such. So would any of you readers be interested in me inserting music cues for the story? Just wondering, but if you guys are interested I do have a few pieces picked out and ready for the upcoming chapters.


	14. Piercing the Veil

Warning: Mature and dark themes mentioned toward the end

Music suggested: *Shiki OST Shi-ki*

=I=I=

Ares couldn't stop thinking about her. That angel, Galen. Part of him knew it was because it was she was the younger sister of his host. But another part was due to the immense curiosity he aroused in him. She was such an enigma to him. She fought against him relentlessly though she knew she was outmatched. That fighting spirit that dared defy him reminded him of his own sister. But then again, look where that got her. Philo was dead, yet his strong spirit lingered. What about Galen? A wicked smile crossed his face. Oh how he was going to enjoy breaking that spirit of hers.

=I=I=

"Wake up." A hand slapped her harshly across the face, jarring the girl from her slumber.

Gale winced as she felt a trickle of blood drip from her mouth. Her blue eyes glared daggers at the monster that wore her brother's face.

"What's wrong? Not happy to see your big brother?" Now he was just mocking her.

"You're not my brother." she spat.

Ares only smiled. His expression softened as he reached out to cup her cheek. "What are you talking about? I'm right here." Adding salt to the wound, he was using Pit's voice and tone. His expression grew to wicked glee when he saw her stare in shock at him.

She broke out of her stupor and shook his hand off her face.

"Come on," he was back to using his two toned voice again, "can't we all just be friendly. Master Hades has so graciously given me control of this fortress. It'd be a shame if this is the only part of it you'll see. So what do you say?"

Gale glared at him but said nothing. Those defiant blue eyes expressing her feelings toward him.

Ares' expression dropped and delivered a powerful right hook to her jaw. Gale spat out blood this time and winced in pain. Through the pain, she noticed that he had actually managed to knock a tooth out.

Ares snarled and stormed out. "Don't think that you'll be so lucky next time."

=I=I=

Palutena took in a deep breath. She looked at the array before her. It had taken a while, but it was nearly complete. This runic circle was going to open a pathway to the Underworld for her so she could save her angel. She only needed a few more symbols and components until the portal was complete. "Just a little longer. Hang in there."

=I=I=

_Gale, please wake up. Please open your eyes._

Tired cerulean eyes opened to the sight of Philo standing before her. "Philo..?"

"Don't give up. You can beat Ares and purge him from your brother. I know you can."

"I-I don't know how. It's like Pit's not even there."

"Ares forced him into the darkest recesses of his heart, trapping him there. You just need to extend the light of your heart into his and reach him."

"How do I..?" her words were cut off as Philo gently grabbed her necklace.

"This is a keepsake your brother gave you. This should remind him of the love he has for you. Project your light through this and my sword and pierce the dark veil hiding your brother."

=I=I=

Ares had returned several more times after that. Each time to just taunt and jeer at her. Each time ended up with her glaring at him or verbally rejecting him with him retaliating with physical punishment. Gale winced harshly as each breath caused her ribs to ache from when Ares had decided to use her as a target for his hand to hand. The metal door opened again and Gale didn't respond, only bracing herself for more physical assault.

Two shadow angels appeared, their glowing red eyes acting as beacons in the darkness. One opened the cell she was in and they both walked toward her. They both reached up and released the chains from the hook on the ceiling, causing the girl's feet to hit the floor fully. The shadow angels began walking away, chains in hand, dragging the girl with them.

=I=I=

"Well, I am pleased to see you're still feisty as ever." Ares grinned as Gale was forced to her knees with her hands bound behind her back. She glared defiantly at him from her spot on the floor.

Ares walked down and knelt before the angel. He lifted her chin gently so he could look her in the eye. "Come on, we'll be together just like old times. That's what you wanted all this time, right, little sister?"

Steeling her blue eyes to glare at him she responded, "You're not my brother. You're just using his body. Mark my words, Ares, I WILL defeat you and free Pit!"

Ares threw her to the ground and stomped on her side. The girl let out a cry of pain, but turned so that she could glare at him.

"This is your final warning, Galen." He had drawn his blade and pointed it at her. "I'll give you one last chance to redeem yourself. Join me and rule by my side or perish."

Out of the corner of her eye, Gale spotted Philo's sword lying forgotten in the corner of the room. Unfortunately, her hands were still bound and she had no way of breaking the chains. The tip of Ares blade drew close to her face.

"Well?"

Gathering up her nerves and slowly edging her foot toward his, Gale made the gutsiest move of her life. "Go to hell."

Ares let out an enraged roar and prepared to swing and decapitate her, but Gale had maneuvered her foot behind his and knocked him off balance, sending him crashing to the floor. Gale quickly scrambled to her feet and managed reach the sword. Using fancy footwork she didn't know she had, she managed to kick the sword in the air so she could grab the hilt with her teeth. Dashing toward the door, she turned so her shoulder busted it open. Not looking back, she took down the corridors.

"You can run all you want, Galen! But you can't hide! You're only delaying the inevitable!"

=I=I=

Palutena snuck around the corner of the hallway. The circle had worked perfectly and teleported her to the entrance of Ares fortress. There were no monsters guarding it oddly enough. But that didn't mean she could get careless. She heard Ares voice from a distance, but couldn't make out what he was saying.

She turned down another corridor and took cover when she heard footsteps. Her back hit a door when she heard Ares calling out to Galen. Palutena felt a small smile grace her lips despite the situation. Gale did have a knack for hiding and running, after all. Hiding in the room behind her, she waited until Ares had passed before opening the door again.

"L-lady Palutena..?"

Startled, the goddess spun around and came face to face with Galen. Even in the dim light, the goddess could see the condition the girl was in. Her tunic and shoes were gone, blood was drying on her skin, and she seemed overall exhausted. Palutena bit back a gasp when she saw the bruises and blood.

"Gale." Stepping forward, she could see that the girl's hands were bound behind her back and Philo's sword was sitting on the floor next to her. Immediately kneeling to the girls side, Palutena began using her powers to break the chains. "Are you alright? What happened?" In retrospect, the two questions were unneeded because the goddess could probably guess what had happened.

The chains clattered to the ground and Gale rubbed her sore wrists gingerly. "Why are you here?"

"To save you."

Gale visibly jumped at that answer. There was a look of disbelief written all over her face. "Why?"

The goddess' expression softened. "I realize just how much I put you through since this whole war started. All you wanted was to find your place in the world. Not be thrown headfirst into a battle that I couldn't fight."

The brunette shook her head. "That's not true…" she protested weakly.

Palutena shook her head and continued. "That's why I'm here. We will fight Ares off together and free your brother. It's the least I can do for you."

Emptions ran rampant through the girls head. Part of her was grateful that she wouldn't be alone in this battle, but another was worried that Palutena was getting in over her head in actually stepping foot on the battlefield. Finally reaching a decision she took a deep breath. "What should we do?"

=I=I=

Ares looked around the corridors and hallways of the castle searching for that fickle angel. "You can't hide forever, Galen. I will find you."

A loud crash resonated through the hallway. Ares turned and smirked. "Klutzy thing, aren't you?" He walked toward the sound and found a shattered vase on the floor. Looking at the wall, he smiled triumphantly when he saw a few drops of blood on the floor, leading back to the grand hall. "Thought you could get away could you?"

=I=I=

Palutena hid in the shadows of a pillar. She was putting all her trust in Gale's plan to work. The plan seemed simple enough: she was to wait to trap and bind Ares while Gale used Philo's sword to travel into the darkest depths of Ares' heart and free Pit. In words, it was simple, but actually executing it was a whole other matter. She could only hope Gale could pull it off. She saw the angel hiding behind another pillar across the room. Even from this distance, she could see the girl breathing heavily, weakened from the abuse at Ares' hands. Gale seemed exhausted beyond reason, but she insisted that this must be done now, or there will never be another chance.

The sound of the doors opening caught her ears and no sooner did Ares walk in. "Come now, Galen. We both know you can't possibly keep this game of hide and seek going any longer."

Palutena risked a glance at the girl hidden on the other side of the room. Gale seemed to hide her exhaustion, if only to prove him wrong. Despite the immense danger she was in, Palutena couldn't help but feel a sense of pride well up. Galen was trying so hard to save Pit and protect her at the same time. Palutena broke out of her thoughts when she heard Ares step closer. Before she could prepare, tendrils of shadow sprung from beneath her and ensnared her, dragging her closer to the mad warrior.

"Thought you could be clever, did you? Thought I didn't know you and her were here?" he placed his blade beneath the goddess throat. "You thought wrong. I could sense her light the moment she entered this castle. So if you don't want to see her pretty head roll, I suggest you surrender now, Galen."

Gale bit her lip and came out from her hiding place. From this distance, she could see the sick and maddening grin on Ares' face. Oh, how she wanted to punch that grin right off him. Before she could even react, something from behind her pulled her feet out from right under her. Turning her head, she saw that shadows had wrapped themselves around her ankles. Ares' feet stopped before her head and his hand gripped her by the hair, forcing her head up. Through the pain, Gale spotted Palutena, still trapped by the same shadows. Gale's blue eyes conveyed sincere apology and regret, but Palutena got the message and shook her head slowly.

"Galen." Ares' voice brought her attention back to realize that he had a look of sadistic glee written on his face. The girl grimaced when she realized that there was little that she could do in this situation. Ares released her hair only to grab her by the face. The shadows released her legs as she was lifted in the air.

"You may think that you have a chance, but time to face reality. I'm stronger, I'm faster, I'm smarter, I'm on the winning side. And you? You have nothing. You're just a pathetic little girl who's crying for her brother. You were destined to lose this fight the moment you stepped into this war. And now you can join your brother in the eternal darkness."

Gale glared at him through one of the cracks of his fingers. With one hand gripping his wrist, she reached for the gem around her neck. The one that Pit gave her all those years ago. As she closed her hand around it, it began shining brightly. Ares looked away from the intense light, but his face contorted in agony as Gale forced the gem into the skin of his chest. He dropped her and stumbled back in agony. The shadows holding Palutena dispersed, releasing the goddess of light.

Ares began screaming as the gem began shining even more intensely. Darkness and light began spewing from his chest, both forces clashing. Gale grabbed Philo's sword and with a battle cry she plunged the blade into the light from Ares' chest.

=I=I=

*Opening her eyes, she spotted nothing but darkness. Just like that dream. Gale cautiously looked around and realized that she still held her sword. A dark purple light shone from ahead. Turning the girl's jaw dropped in surprise when she saw a dark purple crystal ensnared by shadows. And inside that crystal, was her brother. His eyes were closed as if simple sleeping and his expression was neutral.

Gale rushed forward towards Pit, but Ares suddenly appeared in front of her. Though his appearance was no longer just a sickly distorted version of her brother. His hair had darkened to pitch black with crimson streaks. His eyes a malicious red and his skin tanned as opposed to the sickly grey it had been previously. "So you got guts, I'll give you that. Take a good look, Galen, this is the last you'll see of me before being cast into eternal darkness." He held out his hand and his sword manifested in a cloud of shadows.

The girl glared and held her blade in front of her. As if responding, the blade lit up with white flames. Blinking in shock, Gale swung her sword, dispelling the darkness around them.

The darkness fled, revealing an old coliseum style arena. The sky above was darkened with storms. The crystal trapping Pit stood high above them in the sky, held by shadows descending from the storm. Gale looked around in shock once she figured out where she was. This was the old arena where she first fought Vitiosus. And lost, badly.

_No, not this time. _The angel shook her head and readied herself for Ares' first strike.

"Remember this place, do you?" Ares asked as he looked around to marvel at the area. "How ironic. This is where I fought and killed my foolish sister all those years ago. This is where your whole ordeal began. Fitting that this be the place where we fight now."

Gale gasped at the news. _This is where Philo died…_ The blade in her hands pulsed with power. It was as if Philo herself was telling her to end it here. _I'll do it. I'll finish the fight you couldn't._ She let out a cry and charged at Ares.

He smirked and blocked her strike effortlessly. He didn't anticipate her to kick his midsection however and skidded back. He growled and swung downward, aiming to slice her in half. Gale sidestepped and swung horizontally, only for Ares to jump over her swing. Mid jump, he managed to kick her shoulder, sending her to the ground.

Gale winced as her shoulder scraped along the ground. She managed to roll away before Ares' sword pierced the ground where her head was. Jumping to her feet, Gale swung toward his arms only for him to deliver a powerful right hook toward the side of her face. She retaliated by sweeping his feet out from under him. She tried to swing down and end the fight, but Ares brought his sword to block her strike.

"You realize that what you are doing is futile, don't you?" he pushed her off him and jumped back.

"What are you talking about?"

"Pit and I are bound. My soul is no longer overshadowing his. Our souls have entwined together. Defeating me means killing him."

Gale faltered for a moment. She wracked her brain for answers. Was he telling the truth? Her mind went back to Philo's words. _"Pierce the veil hiding your brother. Extend your light to him." _ Gale looked down at the sword in her hands. In response to her thoughts a brilliant light shone from the blade. The angel stared at it in awe. "Pierce the veil…" she mumbled. Her blue eyes darted to the crystal above them for a brief moment. That's what she had to do. She wasn't going to defeat Ares. She was going to free Pit. Gale's eyes looked around the arena. None of the surrounding stands reached high enough. Her gaze drifted to Ares. But maybe he could reach it.

Ares let out a yell and charged. He tried a quick stab and managed to catch her off guard. Gale barely managed to twist to avoid any serious damage, instead taking a more shallow hit to her side. Gale jumped and tried to swing down upon his head. Ares blocked and sent her higher into the air.

Exactly what she wanted. She glanced behind her and noticed that she wasn't high enough. Gale angled herself so that she landed in the stands. "What's wrong? Can't hit me?"

Ares jumped up toward her and started slashing toward her. Gale parried a few, but suffered some shallow cuts. Gale tried to goad him into sending her airborne again. Inwardly she smirked, she was purposefully trying to make him mad by insulting his pride. His anger obviously clouded his judgment and made his attacks sloppier than usual. He let out a cry of anger and sent her flying, higher than before. Gale turned so that she was facing the crystal. She held her blade out in front of her and slashed the tendrils of shadow keeping the crystal suspended. Both the girl and the crystal crashed to the ground. The crystal seemed to take no damage upon landing. Gale however only managed to slightly soften the blow by angling herself so that she glided into the stands. She hit the stone seats hard and lay paralyzed by pain for a few moments.

"Clever little prick." Gale managed to open one eye to see Ares glaring at her. "Thought you were so clever, trying to get close so that you could shatter the crystal. Too bad for you. That crystal is the darkness of my heart given form. Nothing you do will crack it."

Gale winced as Ares grabbed her roughly by the collar of her shirt. He smirked and threw her back down toward the crystal. Her back hit it hard and she slid to the ground, but true to Ares' word, it showed no outward sign of damage. The girl looked back feebly, her tired blue gaze searching her brother's sleeping face for any signs of waking. "Brother, please…"

Ares stomped hard on her leg, causing the girl to scream. The dark warrior smiled viciously before grabbing her by the throat and slamming her into the crystal.

"Foolish girl. I told you, it's futile to try and wake him." To emphasize his words, he slammed her hard into the shadow crystal. Gale whimpered in pain, no longer having to strength to scream. She was so tired. Honestly, she was surprised she lasted this long.

Unbeknownst to the both of them, when Gale screamed and Ares slammed her into the crystal, Pit's expression twitched for a brief moment.

"I applaud you for lasting this long," he punched her hard in the face, "but this is where you battle ends." He kicked her leg. "You tried to play hero, but failed miserably." He grabbed her arm and twisted it painfully, causing the girl to scream again. "Say farewell, Galen." He was now holding her roughly against the crystal several inches above the ground. He reared back for one more punch.

The angel wearily opened her tired eyes. Her face was a gory mess of blood and cuts and bruises. She coughed a few times, blood spewing from her mouth each time. She knew she wouldn't be able to withstand this final punch. She closed her eyes in defeat, waiting for the final blow. _I'm sorry, Lady Palutena. I'm sorry, Brother, I couldn't save you._

Ares' fist was inches from her face before he came up with another idea. He dropped the girl to the ground. He stomped on her shoulder hard. The crack was audible to the both of them. Confused tired blue eyes peered up at wicked crimson ones.

"I know what is much more satisfying than simply defeating you."

Gale had a look of clear confusion on her face as Ares knelt down and straddled her hips with his legs, preventing escape. She caught on immediately when she spotted him undoing his chest plate and tried to squirm her way out from underneath him in pure terror. Her arms were heavy as lead, from Ares twisting the one and stomping on her other shoulder. Unfortunately, he had her pinned down firmly. In utter terror, the girl could only watch as Ares rid himself of his armor, exposing his chainmail shirt, and move onto his lower half. _Nonononono…!_

"This brings me back." He said in malicious glee. "Care to guess how many other women of my time were in your position?" The girl continued to stare in wide-eyed horror, the only sounds coming out her mouth being high pitched whimpers. Tears were slowly gathering at the edge of her terrified eyes. "Of course, none of them had a spirit like yours. They all submitted so lifelessly. Like lambs to the slaughter. Of course, they foolishly thought that keeping me satisfied meant that their pathetic lives were spared another day. They thought wrong. None of them satisfied me. So of course, I ended their lives." His chest was now bare and he was now caressing her wounded side. Gale shuddered in fear at the intimate and so very wrong gesture. "You, on the other hand, are very different than those fools. You resisted me at every turn. You vexed my soul since the day I laid eyes on you. Your constant struggle to defy me only fed to the flame of desire burning up in me." He laid his hand against her hip and gripped the fabric of her shorts. He smiled viciously. Tears were now freely flowing from her eyes, mingling with the blood on her face.

_Th-this can't be happening… Brother… please…_

"I will take pleasure in breaking that spirit once and for all." His other hand snaked it's way to her collar and he slid a finger down, ready to rip the fabric. "Are you ready, Galen?" he whispered sadistically in her ear.

"NOOO!"

*CRACK!

Both froze and Ares looked for the source of the sound. His eyes widened when he looked past her. Confused, and somewhat relieved, she followed his gaze and her eyes widened at the sight.

The crystal encasing Pit had cracked. Slowly his eyes opened as the crystal began cracking more and more. Ares jumped off her and slowly backed away, shaking his head in denial at the sight before him. "Impossible!" He looked down and saw that his hand was evaporating in shadowy wisps. "No!" his entire body vanished from view in dark smoke.

Gale slowly got up and managed to turn around. "Brother..?" Exhaustion and pain came back at full force, sending the girl to the ground on her rear. She did all she could to stay awake and watch as the crystal slowly began coming off in small chips. Pit's eyes were slowly opening as more and more crystal fell away. Soon all the crystal fell away, freeing Pit entirely. He fell to the ground slowly and landed on one weakened knee. He looked around in confusion before catching sight of the girl before him. His eyes were tired but clearly confused.

Gale managed to get to her feet with great difficulty, but before she could reach him, the world around them began to shatter. A great light shone from Pit's chest and soon overtook the entire area. Gale tried to reach him, but fell back as everything went white.

"Sister..?"

=I=I=

Palutena took cover as the light exploded from Ares' chest. When she poked her head around the corner, she gasped.

Gale now lay on the floor, in even worse shape than before. She was drenched in blood and covered in wounds. The goddess rushed to the angel's side in worry.

"Galen! Gale, wake up!"

Weak blue eyes met worried green eyes. "L-lady… P-Palutena.." her voice was so weak and quiet that Palutena barely heard her. Palutena gasped in relief and pulled the weakened girl in her lap. "Wh-what… happened..? Whe-where's Ares…?"

A cry of agony caught both females attention. Ares stood several feet away as darkness and light began coming off his body at a rapid pace. The darkness began gathering above him in a dark sphere. Soon no darkness remained and Pit fell to the floor, his appearance returned to normal and unconscious.

Gale tried to weakly reach him. "Brother..!"

"You fools…" a low voice growled.

Their attention was drawn to the sphere above Pit's unconscious body. Two eyes blood red eyes glared from within. The sphere condensed and soon exploded, releasing waves of darkness. A figure, obscured by the darkness, raised it's hand and released a dark purple light, ravaging the entire area.

Gale felt herself fly from Palutena's grasp. She couldn't see Palutena or her brother. Exhaustion and pain washed over her entire body as everything went dark.

=I=I=

A/N: Got to say, I was a bit anxious about this chapter but I thought it came out perfectly the way I wanted it to. I honestly wrote the internal battle on the spot too. I had not planned it to go the way it did, but I'm glad it did. Honestly, it was going to originally end up with her tricking Ares into destroying the crystal, but that seemed a little too dull, typical, and boring to me. Pit responding to the pain and distress of his sister and breaking free himself was a much better way to end it to me. And as for the whole… her nearly getting raped before he broke free, I will say it again, that was not my original intention. So I apologize if it seemed too… mature for some, but the way it played out ended up working perfectly. And nothing really happened so, there's that. But it added to the desperation of the situation. For those wondering, while the battle inside Ares' heart took a long time to Gale, it was only a moment or two to Palutena.

I decided to include music tracks. The way I'm going to signal them is by an asterisk. In this case Shiki OST Shi-ki should be played during the parts between the two *, the first starts music and the second ends it. I'll also include these at the beginning of the chapter for convenience. Let me know what you think.


	15. Back in Action

…_wake… do now…? –op… -es…_

Faint voices that were muffled. That was all she could hear. It was like she was underwater and someone was trying to speak to her. She was surrounded by warmth, but she was pretty sure she was underwater. But how was she breathing?

Wait. Who was she? She struggled to remember, but little came up. Suddenly, images flashed through her head. A lady with green hair and a warm smile. _Palutena…_ A man with dark hair and red eyes, smiling wickedly while holding a sword. _Ares…_ A girl with brown hair and blue eyes looking into a mirror. _Me..?_ A boy with features identical to the previous girl, trapped in a purple crystal. _Pit… BROTHER!_

Galen. She was Galen, commonly going by Gale for short. She was an angel in servitude to Palutena, goddess of light. She had been fighting against Ares, who had possessed her brother's body. They fought and she eventually managed to free Pit, but what had happened after that?

Forcing her eyes open, the images before her were distorted and somewhat green. Once her vision cleared, she realized that she was in something. Something filled with warm water. There was something around her mouth enabling her to breathe. Looking around the best she could, she saw that the walls of whatever it was that she was in were plantlike.

"So you're awake now, huh?"

Her blue gaze snapped up and she saw Viridi, the goddess of nature, peering down at her. The top opened and Gale slowly brought herself up out of the water. Once her head was out, the thing around her mouth came off. The angel looked around and realized that she had been laying in some sort of plant capsule filled with… hot spring water? The lack of warmth soon became apparent as she shivered a bit at the temperature change.

"Took you long enough." Viridi commented.

"Viridi…? Where am I? What happened? Why was I-" Her voice was a bit weak and hoarse from not being used for so long. Her last question got cut off as she gripped her head to fend off the oncoming headache.

Viridi rolled her eyes. "Easy, tiger. You've been asleep in that regeneration capsule for a while now. You're body needs time before you can really do anything."

Gale looked at the goddess of nature in confusion. Looking around, she noticed the natural look of the chamber, easily identifying with the goddess of nature. "What happened? All I remember is fighting Ares. Wait! Lady Palutena! Where is she?!" she didn't care that her voice cracked horribly at the last question.

Viridi smacked the girl lightly on the head with her staff. "To answer your question, you're in my sanctuary. After you freed Pit and separated him and Ares, Ares somehow managed to manifest himself a body and he went berserk. I don't know what happened to Pit, but Palutena transported you away before taking on Ares. I found you outside my sanctuary practically dead. But thanks to the natural healing properties hot spring water and these regeneration capsules, you recovered slowly but surely. And don't worry, that water was supplied with the necessary nutrients so that your body didn't waste away into nothing." she spoke of the last part with pride.

"What happened to Lady Palutena?" Dread was rising in her throat and the girl thought she might be sick.

Viridi paused, her mouth a grim line. "She didn't stand a chance against Ares. He took her captive and she's been his captive ever since."

Gale felt her heart sink. Palutena got captured because of her. "How long was I asleep?"

Viridi sighed. "3 years."

The angel's eyes nearly shot out of her head. "3 years?!" If she had been asleep that long, no wonder her body was so weak. It had been disused for so long.

"Easy. I know you want to go save Palutena, but you aren't at 100% yet. You were at deaths door when I found you."

"Why did you help me..?" Gale couldn't hold the question back. She was honestly curious.

The goddess of nature stubbornly averted her gaze. "Consider us even. This is for chasing that Vitiosus away from the Lunar Sanctum three years ago." She didn't want to mention that it was also because she promised Palutena. The girl looked worried enough that Palutena was captured for her safety. She didn't feel like getting bombarded by any more questions out of her mouth.

Viridi sighed and walked over to a bundle of cloth sitting nearby. She placed it on the floor beside the capsule. Walking away, she called back. "Once you're dressed, come find me. We have much to discuss."

It was then that Gale realized that she was naked. Shrinking back in the water, she waited to make sure that Viridi was gone before stepping out. Gale stood on shaky feet and realized that she was a little thinner than she was before and that she was maybe an inch or two taller. Taking a deep breath, she reached down and grabbed the cotton towel that Viridi provided and dried herself off before getting dressed. The clothing was a little loose on her now slightly thinner frame, but she figured she would grow into it. The style was overall the same, a tunic and underclothing. Beneath the cloth lay a new bow, one that had a natural look and vines wrapping around it. Once she got dressed she walked out, looking for Viridi.

=I=I=

She found Viridi in what appeared to be a dining hall. Viridi sat at the head of the table, with an empty chair at the other end. Viridi gestured for the girl to take a seat. Gale at down and no sooner that she did, Arlon appeared and placed a tray of soup and tea before her. Gale looked at him and he nodded before returning to Viridi's side. She looked back at Viridi who nodded. Gale gingerly took her spoon and slowly ate the soup to show respect, despite the fact that she was starving.

Viridi cleared her throat before speaking. "Now that you're up and about, we have important things to discuss. Times have been grave these past three years. Hades and Ares have been wreaking havoc on the world. Hades himself rarely shows his face nowadays, what with Ares doing all the dirty work. Palutena is in their grasp. They've taken over Skyworld and Ares has been using it as a base of commands."

Gale stopped eating and looked at Viridi in shock. "What about the Centurions? Surely they must've fought back. We need to get to Skyworld right away!"

"Sit down and listen! The Centurions immediately surrendered when Ares revealed that he had Palutena. They are under Ares' command now. As for Skyworld, Ares placed a powerful barrier around it. Nothing I can send can break through it. I've lost more than enough forces trying to break that stupid thing."

Gale absorbed this information and sipped her tea. She barely registered that Arlon had brought her more soup. "Is there nothing that can break the barrier?"

Viridi sighed. "Well there is one thing. It is spoken of in legends. It is the Lightning Chariot. Pulled by two unicorns, it can move at incredible speeds. Nothing can stop it once it's moving. If we were to obtain the Lightning Chariot, we could possibly break the barrier."

Gale had finished off her second bowl of soup as well as her tea. She locked her gaze with Viridi's. "Where is this Lightning Chariot?"

Viridi smirked in response.

=I=I=

"So where exactly is this Tower?"

Viridi surprised Gale when she used the Power of Flight and took control of the angel's flight path. All Viridi had mentioned was that she knew where the Chariot was housed, but she didn't say anymore than that.

"Just keep calm. I'm trying to keep your presence on the downlow."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"When Palutena was captured, she teleported you away. Hades and Ares searched for you but couldn't find you. Let's try to keep your presence a secret for as long as we can."

Gale took this information in silence. "But for how long..? How long until Hades figures out I'm alive?"

"Not sure. My troops have tried fighting Hades in the past, but Ares was too strong for them. In the past few months, when you were still asleep, I've laid low so my children can recover. But who knows how long until we're found out?"

Gale stayed silent the whole time. She did notice the distinct lack of Underworld forces. For a moment, it seemed like there was no war at all. Shaking her head, the angel kept moving forward.

"Alright, we're here."

Ahead of her was what seemed to be an old cannon from ancient times. Gale felt something nag her at the back of her mind. "Um, how is this going to help?"

"The Tower is located in the sky high above the earth. Located in space. Obviously, flying up there yourself will take more than your wings can handle. So what better way to break the atmosphere than being shot out of a cannon?"

"Wait! Don't I get a say in this?!"

"Nope."

Without another word, Gale felt her wings carry her into the barrel of the cannon. Responding to Viridi's power, the cannon readjusted it's position before firing the angel to the heavens.

=I=I=

Gale felt herself stop spinning, but fought to keep down what little food she had eaten down. Her heart was still racing and the dizziness was slowly coming to a stop. "What if I had blown to smithereens?!"

"But you weren't. And don't worry about breathing. I've placed a charm on that tunic you're wearing before you left. But now all we need to do is locate the tower."

Before Gale could respond, something moving very fast sped by her. Her blue eyes only managed to catch a glimpse of what appeared to be a shooting star.

"There's the Chariot! After it!"

Her wings flared to life and Gale sped off after her mark.

=I=I=

Elsewhere in Skyworld…

Ares smirked as he received the report from one of the Centurions. He walked in front of a cell in the dungeon. He peered in at his captive but when they didn't respond to his presence, he turned his back to them. "Three years. Three years is how long you have been here. How much longer will you hold out, Palutena? I must admit, you've held on quite admirably, but even you aren't invincible."

The figure behind him wrapped in shadow chains didn't move. The goddess of light was a mere shadow of herself. Dressed in only rags now compared to her once beautiful gown. Her once bright spring green hair had dulled and was matted with blood and grime. Her skin a map of pain inflicted by Ares himself. Her skin had paled from lack of sunlight. Her eyes had dulled a bit but still held the courage to defy him. She had held out against him for years, only receiving harsh physical beatings. But it was worth it. Ares himself had gloated about what he would've done to Galen had she been in the goddess position. Just hearing that filth from his mouth made Palutena all the more relieved to be his captive rather than her. Oddly enough, Ares made no move to do such acts with her. Perhaps he was keeping her around to be a trophy of sorts. Either way, Palutena paid him no mind. She only hoped that Viridi kept her word and kept her angel safe.

=I=I=

A/N: and now starts what would be the equivalent of the Chaos Kin arc in the game. Obviously the primary problem here is Ares, not the Chaos Kin. Im interested to hear what you think.


	16. Climbing the Tower

The tower before her was an amazing sight. It looked like the old tower that supposedly reached the heavens that she heard about in stories. She tried to fly toward the top but hit an invisible barrier. Gale flew lower until she was at the bottom. She landed in front of the entrance and craned her head to look up.

"We don't have time for sight seeing. Head up that tower and get that chariot."

Gale nodded and walked in the entrance. There were what appeared to be suits of armor inhabited by beings made of soul fire. They all turned toward her simultaneously and pointed their spears at her. Gale readied her bow but stopped when a voice reverberated through the chamber.

"Halt. Lower your weapons." The soldiers obeyed and parted to reveal another soul fire being, only his armor was much different than the others, more suited for combat. A helmet with two horns sat upon his "head". His eyes were nothing more than two beacons in the dark color of the flame that made up his body. He had two weapons at his side: a sword and a whip. He appraised the angel before him and grunted. "State your name. Why have you come here?"

On instinct, Gale straightened up. "I am Galen, servant to Lady Palutena the goddess of light. I am here to retrieve the Lightning Chariot so that I may break the barrier over Skyworld and defeat the dark warrior Ares."

The being crossed his arms and let out a pensive noise. "What makes you think that retrieving the chariot will be easy? Did you not think that the chariot was in someone else's possession?"

"Hold it, so you're saying someone already has the chariot?"

"You are Viridi the goddess of nature, correct?"

"Correct. Answer my question."

"I am the Chariot Master, the current owner of the Lightning Chariot. The chariot can only be commanded by one deemed worthy to be its master."

Gale tensed. Did that mean she wouldn't be able to use the chariot and rescue Palutena?

The Chariot Master turned toward the angel. "Fear not, young Galen. I will be awaiting at the top of the tower. Your motivation for retrieving the chariot seems promising. Prove your worth by ascending the tower and facing my foot soldiers and defeating me in battle." He turned to the door at the far end of the room.

"Wait!"

"What is it?"

"What is your name?" Gale knew that it was somewhat irrelevant, but felt that knowing his name was the honorable thing to do.

The Chariot Master made an amused noise. "I have had many names in the past. I have served many masters in my life. To you, Galen, I am Shade." Shade left and the door closed behind him. At once the soldiers turned their spears toward her once more.

Gale crouched down as a spear went sailing over her head. Kicking the one behind her, she let loose several shots toward the soldiers in front of her. The impacted the chest plates and sent them back. Another tried to impale her from behind, but the angel sprung into the air and back flipped over it. She swung the blade down and defeated it, leaving nothing but the armor behind. She felt a little bad for them, but she pushed forward and fired a spread shot, defeating all the soldiers in front of her. Nothing but empty sets of armor lay before her and the door opened. Taking no chance, she ran through the door outside the tower.

Her feet skidded to a halt when she realized the pathway wasn't too wide. Looking up, the path wound around and up the tower, entering at points and exiting at others. Sighing she began the long trek up the tower.

"Don't you find it weird that Hades hasn't sent his underlings after you?"

"Maybe he doesn't realize I'm back?" she guessed shrugging her shoulders. She honestly didn't care about it right now. All that mattered was climbing the tower and retrieving the chariot.

"It's possible. But unlikely, you know Hades. He loves poking his head where it doesn't belong. I would've thought he would want to stop us from reaching Skyworld. Unless…"

The tone of Viridi's voice scared the angel a bit. There was an uncertainty and hesitation in her voice at the end. "Unless what?"

"Hades wants you to get to Skyworld. He wants you to fight Ares. That's the only thing I can think of as to why he hasn't interfered with us yet."

Gale stopped walking and looked down toward her hands. The memory of the battle within Ares' heart was clear as day in her mind. The brutal and savage nature of his assault. The desperation to save her brother was the only thing that kept her fighting. The humiliating and crushing defeat she suffered at his hands. His attempt to… _defile_ her… How she had been saved by Pit's awakening. If her brother hadn't awoken when he did, there was no doubt in her mind that Ares would go through with his action. She shuddered at the thought and started hyperventilating.

"Hey, take it easy. I don't know what happened when you last fought Ares, but that was then, this is now. Keep moving forward, or you'll never save Palutena."

Gale managed to control her breathing and nodded. She steeled her nerves and continued her climb. _Viridi's right. That was back then. My main focus is to save Palutena. Just keep moving._

"Hold it!"

Gale stopped and realized she almost walked off the edge. The path took a sharp turn to the right, leading inside the tower once more. She shook her head in an attempt to clear her thoughts. "Stay focused, Galen…" she mumbled as she knocked herself on the head. She opened the door and nearly got bombarded by a rain of spears from the foot soldiers. The angel winced as one grazed her shoulder but shook it off and fired off more arrows. Most of the soldiers disappeared at impact, but one lone soldier held a shield and deflected the shot back at her. Gritting her teeth, the angel charged forward, going in for a strike. The soldier attempted to swat her away with his shield, but the girl ducked under it and delivered a skyward strike along its chest, vanquishing it.

The door on the other side of the room opened and Gale wasted no time in continuing her ascent.

=I=I=

Ares smiled to himself as he walked down toward Palutena's holding cell. Oh boy, did he have news for her. His grin widened as her slumped form came into view.

"Guess what, Palutena?" he asked with a smug tone. When she didn't respond, he continued. "Perhaps you won't be so lonely after all. I've just received word from Master Hades that Viridi is on the move. But that's not all. Guess who Viridi sent to do her dirty work. That's right, little Galen."

Palutena couldn't keep the gasp from leaving her lips. She drifted her gaze up to meet Ares' sadistic grin.

"I wonder. How has she been for the last 3 years? Where has she been hiding and licking her wounds? I eagerly await for when I can play with her some more. Mark my words, Palutena, she will be mine." He walked off, the slamming of the door echoing throughout the chamber.

Palutena ducked her head in thought. She was extremely grateful that Viridi had kept her word and hid Galen from Ares. But at the same time she was extremely worried. Now Ares knew Gale was active once more. Viridi was taking a huge risk having Gale on the front lines. Dread rose in the goddess' throat. Gale wasn't coming to fight Ares and save her, was she? She had no doubt that Gale had grown, but Ares was too strong for her to take him head on. Sighing, the goddess could only hope and pray for the best.

=I=I=

"H-how much l-longer?" Gale asked between breaths. She was approximately halfway up the tower. The fighting she had to do in-between wasn't helping. The girl had stopped for a moment to catch her breath.

"You're about halfway there, I would say."

Gale heaved a heavy sigh and continued upward. She continued through the door and nearly slipped on the icy floor. Bad memories of her time in Thanatos' palace resurfaced in her mind. Shaking her head, the girl carefully traversed across the ice. Several foot soldiers jumped from the shadows. Gale ducked as several attempted to impale her head. Unfortunately she lost her footing on the ice, and ended up falling flat on her back.

"Watch it!"

The angel barely had time to roll away before a spear pierced the ice where her head had been. She tripped one soldier and backflipped away. Several soldiers charged toward her, spears forward. Gale charged her arrow before firing, taking them all out in one fell swoop. Taking in a few deep breath, the girl wiped her brow of any sweat.

"Well, you're still in one piece. That's good, but we're far from the clear. You need to keep climbing."

The girl nodded and continued her ascent. Stepping outside she saw that the path disappeared thinning into a rail. "Um…" her eyes darted around unsure of what to do.

"What? Don't tell me Palutena didn't reach you how to ride grind rails." When the angel didn't respond, the goddess of nature heaved a heavy irritated sigh. "Just step on it and the power flowing through it will take you to the end. Don't worry about balancing yourself, you'll stick to it like a fly to a web."

Though the comparison didn't do anything to her nerves (it actually made her more nervous), Gale took a deep breath and stepped on the rail. She felt a familiar sensation run from her feet up her legs as her feet locked in place on the rail. The angel began moving forward, catching her off guard. "Whoa!" The speed began picking up and soon the tower became a blur. "This is so cool…" she whispered.

"Aren't they? Much quicker than walking."

The rail ended at a platform much higher than the one she was previously on. Gale hopped off and looked around.

"**HELLO!"**

"AAHH!" Gale jumped nearly five feet in the air in surprise.

"Oh great, what do you want?!"

"**What? Can't little ol Hades stop by and say hi? I just wanted to see how my favorite angel is doing. She has been missing for 3 years after all."**

Gale did her best to ignore the Lord of the Underworld, but his appearance did catch her off guard. She mentally scolded herself for scaring so easily.

"This can't be just a friendly visit. You want something don't you?"

"**Who? Me? I'm hurt that you feel that way about me. I just wanted to catch up with my pal Galen. Is that so bad?"**

"And then what? Tell Ares that she's back?"

"**Oh Ares already knows, he told me that he eagerly awaits the return of his playmate. His current one has grown boring. Doesn't respond the way he wants when he pushes her to the brink. Not nearly as entertaining as when he's playing with Galen there."**

The angel did her best to school her face, but inwardly, her heart dropped to her feet. Playmate? That's how Ares saw her? And what about Palutena? What has Ares done?! She suppressed a shudder at the thought of what Ares would do if he got his hands on her. _Keep moving forward, keep moving forward…_

"Tell Ares this: he best prepare himself. We're coming for him. His reign of terror shall end."

"**Duly noted. I await your attempt to take him down. I want front row seats to that."**

"Don't let him get under your skin. He just wants to break your concentration. You need to retrieve that chariot before you do anything else."

Gale nodded and walked through the next door. There were no soldiers, just a large circular pattern on the floor. It glowed in response to her presence. She took a deep breath and walked into the center. The array activated and teleported her to the summit of the tower.

=I=I=

"I was beginning to lose hope that you'd come. You've proven me wrong. Your spirit is indeed strong, but do you have the physical strength to back it up?" Shade stood in a golden chariot with one unicorn in front of it. The area around them was styled as a race track. The spirit nodded to the other lone chariot beside him and gestured her to get in.

Gale wasted no time in mounting the chariot. She turned to Shade and he grabbed the reins of his chariot. She mimicked him and in an instant they both took off.

"You have conquered my tower, but can you best me? Defeat me and the chariot is yours." He came in close and took a swipe at her with his sword.

Gale directed her chariot to the side to avoid the hit. She was hit with a sudden realization. _How can I fire if I'm driving the chariot?! _Turning her eyes back to her opponent, she tried to ram the side of his chariot.

"Clever, but that won't be enough!" He rammed her in retaliation.

Gale grit her teeth and tried to fire, holding in bow in the same hand as the reins and using to the other to fire. Her accuracy suffered, however, and she only managed to hit the wheel. Shade fell behind her and out of her line of sight. Turning her head, her blue eyes scanned the track for her opponent. Shade sped up from behind her, ramming her from behind. Gale yelped as she nearly lost her footing. He reached toward his belt, grabbing his whip. He cracked it a few times before it wrapped around her hand holding the reins.

Her eyes wide in shock, the angel wracked her brain for an idea. She quickly split her bow into two and gripped one end in her right hand and the other between her teeth. _I've got one shot..!_ Shade brought himself closer to her before he could realize what she was planning. She looped the reins of her chariot around the resting hook in the front and jumped to Shade's chariot. Before he could draw his sword, she brought down her one blade down on his body. Releasing the other blade from her teeth and into her hand, she used both to deliver a powerful skyward strike to the chariot master, sending them both off the chariot and tumbling onto the track.

Both unicorns came to a halt at the absence of their master. Gale gripped her head and looked for Shade. "Shade!" she rushed over to his form which was slowly giving off small particles of light.

The spirit looked at her and began to give a chuckle. "It has been far too long since I have had a worthy opponent. You have proven yourself and your resolve worthy of commanding Phox and Lux. They were gifts given to me from my previous master. I served him faithfully until both of our ends. I have been waiting for someone worthy to come so that I may pass the Lightning Chariot onto them. Galen, go save your master." He reached a hand toward her and the angel gripped it in both of her hands tightly.

"Don't worry. The chariot is in good hands. I won't let you down."

Shade let out a chuckle as he faded away completely. "Good to hear that."

"He was a good man in life, I'm sure. Now that we have the chariot, we can plan on how to free Palutena."

Both the girl and the chariot were engulfed in a green light before disappearing in a flurry of petals.

=I=I=

A/N: and they finally have the chariot! Let the rescue operation commence! For the Chariot Master, he was such an enigma and was enjoyable to work with. There isn't too much background info on him so I got to experiment a bit. And those wondering, I chose the name 'Shade' in reference to the Hero's Shade in the Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. It seemed fitting to me because both had something to pass on to the protagonist of the games. And the armor kinda looked alike to me. As to why he was a bit more open to Gale challenging him, if you recall in the game, Pit just kinda barged in and said 'give me the chariot' and got on the Chariot master's bad side right off the bat. Gale did not, she was patient and respectful when she got to the tower. Just saying updates will be slow this month, have a lot going on, but there will be one or two more updates this month if all goes well.


	17. Stopping the Tyrant

Music used: *Icarus by Ivan Torrent*

=I=I=

"Alright, we here's the game plan." Viridi paced in front of the small stump where the angel was seated. Gale herself was drinking another cup of Arlon's tea (it was a very intriguing flavor) listening to the goddess of nature. The goddess stopped pacing and looked the girl in the eye. "Once you use the chariot to break the barrier, you need to fight your way to where Ares is holding Palutena. There's a good chance that you're gonna be fighting Ares himself as well. I assume that you already know that." Galen nodded in response. Viridi then motioned for her to follow and walked to the next room.

Gale stood up and placed her now empty cup on the stump and followed the child like goddess. She was greeted by the sight of Phox and Lux, the two unicorns who pulled the Lightning Chariot. The two unicorns seemed to perk up when the angel entered the chamber. The girl smiled slightly and gently patted the two on the nose gently. She stepped onto the chariot and looked back at the goddess of nature.

"Hop in. You're leaving now."

To say that the Chariot was going fast was an understatement. Moving at the speed of light while trying to stay in one piece is more accurate to describe the situation. Gale tried her best to keep her eyes open. She barely noticed the Underworld Forces coming at her only to be blasted away by lightning shot from the unicorns horns.

"**Attention, passengers, please keep your hands and feet inside the moving chariot at all times. Unless you want to lose them that is."**

"Hades! What do you want now?! Go home!"

"**What? I cant get a front row seat to the beating?"**

"H-Hades! G-go a-waay!" the angel managed to force out due to the extreme speed she was moving at.

"**Puh-lease! Like I would miss the battle of the century! Ares the Dark Lord versus Galen the world's tiniest angel. It should be an interesting match."**

Despite the situation Gale couldn't hold back her retort. She was downright sick and tired of people commenting on her size! "I AM NOT TINY!"

=I=I=

"Incoming barrier in 3! 2! 1!"

Gale braced herself as Phox and Lux shattered the barrier around Skyworld on contact. It sounded like shattering glass as the chariot passed through like it was nothing. Gale jumped out of the chariot and landed on one of the floating islands that rested outside the main temple area.

The unicorns kept running around in circles in the air, waiting for a command. Phosphora teleported down and calmed the two mythical beasts and nodded at the angel before taking the chariot back to Viridi's Sanctuary.

"Know your way around?"

"Yeah, like the back of my hand. But I don't know if Ares changed anything concerning the layout of the islands." She had a point, while under normal circumstances she could navigate this place blindfolded, she was unsure if Ares changed anything or set up any sort of traps.

"I'll let you know if I sense anything. But I'll leave navigation to you. Just stay on guard, who knows if Ares has a welcoming committee waiting for you."

The angel nodded and moved forward across the stone bridge connecting the islands. She spotted movement out of the corner of her eye and spun around, bow drawn.

A Centurion flew up behind her and chucked a huge slab of rock toward the angel. Gale yelped and took off before the stone made contact with her body. Several more Centurions flew up beside the other one, these ones armed with bows. Gale took off running to avoid the onslaught of arrows. "What's going on?! Why are they attacking me?!"

"I'm gonna place my bet on their listening to Ares because he's got Palutena!"

Gale ducked as a large rock flew over her head. Taking cover behind one of the nearby buildings, she waited for the Centurion to leave before coming out of hiding.

"Listen, I know you're not gonna like hearing this, but you have to fight them. We're wasting time by sneaking and waiting. Besides, they can always be brought back later. Let's stop wasting time and reach Ares already."

Gale sighed and swallowed past the lump in her throat. Viridi was right. She couldn't delay saving Palutena any further. The angel jumped out of her hiding spot and sniped three Centurions when they weren't looking. _I'm sorry._

I=I=

Ares couldn't keep the wicked smile of anticipation off his face. Gale had come to him like the foolish child she was. "You know Palutena, your angel isn't too bright."

The goddess of light made no sound of acknowledgement, but Ares continued anyway.

"Couldn't keep herself away any more. Rushed in without any regards for her own safety. But, I suppose that's one of the more intriguing parts of her being." Ares walked over to the bound goddess and grabbed her by the hair tightly so that she was looking into his eyes. "You'll get the honor to watch as your little angel is ripped apart piece by piece."

=I=I=

Gale let loose another barrage of arrows to halt the oncoming hoard of Centurion archers. She ducked as a Centurion Knight attempted to impale her from behind with her spear. Aiming carefully, the angel launched an arrow at its unprotected back.

"I must admit, I expected the warriors of Palutena's army to be more… resilient."

Gale sighed as she surveyed the area. "Lady Palutena doesn't want to see them get hurt or killed. So there's not really any motivation for them to get stronger. Their main purpose is to protect Skyworld, not be on the front lines of battle."

"And yet she sent you to battle the Underworld."

Gale did her best not to flinch at Viridi's accusation. The goddess of nature _did _have a point. But the angel knew that Palutena only sent her out because they were out of options. The goddess of light had voiced her objection to sending Gale to fight the war.

"We were out of options. There was no one else left to fight." She couldn't help but wonder if she would've still been involved if Pit was still around at the time. Probably not. But then she wouldn't be who she is now. There were both pros and cons to the whole situation.

Viridi simply stayed quiet while the girl got lost in her thoughts. When Palutena had appeared and begged her to keep the angel safe, it had thrown her for a loop. The goddess of light had been so concerned with the girl's safety, yet she had sent said angel to fight the Underworld Army. The contradictions to the situation had piqued the goddess of nature's interest. Needless to say, what she found out was quite interesting. "Suit yourself. But hey, look what you got out of the deal."

"You mean beside the Underworld army wanting my head?" came the sarcastic reply.

"I'm talking about your growth, smart aleck." Viridi paused, debating on whether or not to finish her thought. "And your brother."

The angel visibly stiffened. Viridi did have a point. If she hadn't fought in this war, she would never have found Pit. Even if the circumstances weren't what she was expecting, she at least got confirmation that he was _alive_. That alone gave her hope that she might be able to find him and be with him once more, no longer be the sole angel of Skyworld. _No longer be the sole survivor of the Medusa's original attack. _But that lead to a question that had been nagging at the back of her mind ever since she woke up. _Where is Pit now?_ She was certain that she had managed to purge Ares from his heart. But where did that leave him? Was it possible that Ares had him as well? Gale shook her head. She couldn't dwell on that now. She had to rescue Palutena. That was her priority.

=I=I=

"This place change much? You seem to be confused."

Sure enough, some of the floating islands were different. Gale could see that some of the locations had been swapped. But the one thing that didn't change was that Palutena's temple itself remained at the north most part of Skyworld. Getting there wasn't too difficult, getting in however, was another story.

"This is definitely new." Before her stood a large runic lock surrounded and supported by chains of hellfire. The rune itself looked suspiciously familiar to a keyhole, the hellfire giving the impression that the door was chained and locked.

"Great. Now we have to go find a way to break this stupid seal. What else is gonna prolong this little mission?"

Gale ignored Viridi's complaints and looked around the area. _Think. Where would Ares place the key. He obviously wants to fight me. But this has got to be some sort of test. Where would that key be…_ Gale looked and saw in the distance that the area that housed the training area had quite a few Centurions around it. The other area that held the dungeon was populated as well. Lastly, the area where her chamber stood had been sliced off from the temple area and placed in a section all on its own, a few Centurions stationed there as well. _Maybe…_

=I=I=

Her hunch had been correct. She had traveled to her room first and after defeating the Centurions there, had acquired an oddly shaped piece of metal that resembled part of a broken key. _The other parts are probably at the dungeon and training area._ Her blue eyes roamed over the stuff in her room, finding everything relatively untouched. The girl sighed and left to check out the other areas and retrieve the other keys.

=I=I=

The dungeons were not a place frequently used in Skyworld. Mainly because none of its residents even had the thought of betraying Palutena. And Palutena didn't really believe in keeping prisoners. Gale looked around and noticed that there were some Centurions patrolling about, but they couldn't see her from where she was hidden. Gale spotted a Centurion Strongarm march by and managed to get a glimpse of what appeared to be some misshapen metal on its belt.

The angel took a deep breath and jumped out of her hiding spot. She took aim at his unguarded back side causing damage and getting his attention. He grunted and tossed a large slab of rock from the floor at the angel. Gale ducked and fired another round of arrows. The Centurion used his arms to block them, leaving his back open once more. The girl circled around once more and delivered an upward strike to his exposed back, defeating him. The key shard he held clattered to the floor at her feet. Gale picked it up and tucked it away in her tunic with the other one. Judging the way both pieces were shaped, it looked like she only needed one more. _And I have a hunch that its at the training grounds._

=I=I=

The training grounds were not unfamiliar to her. She had spent a good amount of her time her in the past, until the questioning stares of the Centurions made her feel incredibly awkward. After that, she had found a spot in Skyworld where she could train in private. It just made her feel uncomfortable when she trained and the Centurions would just stop and simply stare at her. Pushing the thoughts out of her head, Gale moved forward and found the area in bad shape. The place had definitely seen better. It looked as if a storm passed through and demolished it.

Several Centurion archers spotted her and let out a sharp whistle, catching the ears of the rest of the Centurions there. Gritting her teeth, the angel let loose a charged shot, taking out the Centurions that charged at her. Snapping her head up, Gale managed to snipe down the archers. Several Strongarms charged at her, but Gale was faster on her feet. She swiftly circled around and fired at their exposed backs, knocking them off balance. Taking the chance, she gathered energy and let loose a charged shot, taking them all down.

"Ok, now where's the key..?" she mumbled to herself. She looked around and saw that the targets had been demolished. The wall behind them had a message carved into the stone.

_I'm Waiting for You_

Gale swallowed hard and noticed a key shard wedged in one of the cracks. Her fingers worked to pry out the metal without causing any damage that would deform the piece. Taking out the other two, the girl sat down on a nearby piece of stone and began working to piece the key back together.

"Can you get it back together?"

Gale nodded as she worked. She was a fan of puzzles and this was nothing more than that. Her room contained a few puzzles, both 2d and 3d, that had been completed several times over. It only took a few minutes for her brain to find the way each piece fit together. In a moment, she held the completed key in her hands.

Viridi gave a low whistle, impressed that the angel fixed it so fast. "Impressive. I can tell you've done stuff like this before."

Despite the situation, the angel gave a small cocky smile. "Lady Palutena has yet to come up with a puzzle that I can't solve."

Viridi gave a small laugh. "Don't get too cocky. You haven't tried any of MY puzzles yet. I'll whip one up that'll have you baffled!"

"I look forward to it." She stood up and walked back to the temple, completed key in hand.

=I=I=

The key reacted once it got within range of the lock. Gale placed the key in the keyhole and watched as the key turned by itself and shattered the lock. Walking in, the angel couldn't help but stare. The once beautiful architecture was in ruins. Gale clenched her fists as she advanced. The floor below her glowed a crimson before red arrows appeared on the floor, pointing her to the door leading to the courtyard.

"You ready? Ares is right there."

"I've been ready. I'll stop him no matter what."

=I=I=

The courtyard was deserted save for the lone figure at the opposite end.

"Lady Palutena!"

The goddess was bound in dark chains and had definitely seen better days. She was bruised all over and there was dry blood in some spots. Her white dress was torn and dirty, looking nothing more than rags. She cautiously lifted her head and her eyes widened at the sight of the angel. "Gale…" her voice was very hoarse and weak, but the girl heard it nonetheless.

Gale was about to rush over before a dark sword landed no more than a few inches from her feet. A dark barrier of hellfire formed surrounding the area, but keeping Palutena out.

"I was wondering when you'd get here." a dark voice commented.

"Ares!"

A figure dropped down from above. Gale had to do a double take to make sure her eyes were not fooling her.

Ares no longer looked like Pit, having been expelled from his body. The Ares before her was much taller, his size that of a grown man. He possessed dark brown hair that was almost black and a muscled physique. His armor was relatively the same, only having changed size to fit him. What scared and shocked her the most were his eyes. The sclera were a sickening yellow while his irises were a bloody red.

The man before her smirked. He gestured to himself with a flourish. "Like what you see? This is who I am. My true form finally restored. No longer having to rely on that boy's body."

Gale dropped into a fighting stance and growled. "Don't talk about my brother."

Ares let out a bark of laughter. "Hit a nerve did I? That look in your eyes." He stepped closer to her. "I know that look. That's right, my sister gave me that same look before we battled. Oh that takes me back." He grabbed his sword and pointed it at the angel. "I'm going to enjoy watching you take your last breath."

Without a warning he charged toward her. Gale jumped out of the way and fired several shots at him. He merely smiled as he blocked them with his sword. She grit her teeth and attempted to circle around him. Unfortunately, he was able to spin around just as fast. He let out a wave of darkness toward the girl. Gale blocked it but skidded back. _Think, Gale, think! _ She noticed that he had to make an effort to hit where she was, his bigger size working against him. _You're smaller than him! Use that to your advantage! _All the other times they had fought, the size difference wasn't too great between them back then, but Ares true body was much larger than her brother's. Now he had to put more of his body into his strikes. She charged in and managed to slide under his sword and managed to slash at his exposed ankles. Ares snarled and kicked her, sending her back a few feet. Gale smirked when she saw that her tactic had worked. She remembered reading from one of Pit's old books about this strategy. If your opponent was larger or heavily armored, go for their exposed joints to decrease their movement. If they couldn't move, they couldn't fight as well. She eyed Ares' armor and managed to spot several other exposed spots on his armor.

=I=I=

Palutena couldn't believe her eyes. She had worried about her angel fighting Ares, but now she knew her worry was unneeded. Gale was handling herself just fine. The two combatants traded blows, but slowly but surely she was getting the upper hand. Her angel, her Galen, had grown so much.

"Like what you see, Palutena?"

"Viridi, is this truly Galen..?" she was still shell shocked.

"Yup. Just needed a little push. She's fairing quite well." Palutena couldn't ignore the slight hint of pride in Viridi's voice.

"**Well isn't this an interesting turn of events. At this rate, I'm gonna lose my bet."**

"Beat it, Hades!"

Palutena simply ignored Hades and Viridi's bickering and watched the battle in front of her. She was very grateful that Viridi kept her word from back then. The girl looked much different from when the war started 3 years ago. There were now two images of the girl in her mind. One from before the war began; the small timid angel who had lost practically everything. And the current image of her angel; the young teenage angel fighting with her entire being to protect what she has left. Slowly but surely the new and confident Galen was setting in Palutena's mind.

"**So tell me Viridi, how is it that you got tiny Galen to be so strong? Looks like you excelled where Palutena failed."**

Palutena couldn't hide the harsh flinch at Hades' accusation. Was he right? Had Viridi been a better guide for Gale than her?

"Shut your trap, Hades! And for your information, I didn't really do anything. Just told her to suck it up and keep moving. All the rest was her own doing. If ANYTHING, I had to keep her from rushing in and getting her scrawny neck killed! That kid needs a leash!"

Palutena was grateful for Viridi's attempts to keep Hades from kicking her when she's down. But part of her couldn't help but see the truth in Hades words. Gale hadn't really needed guidance since Medusa's defeat. _What am I doing? I should be happy for her. She's grown so much since then. Even if one day she doesn't need me, I'll still be there if she does._

=I=I=*

Gale panted as she jumped back, avoiding Ares' blade. Her strategy had been working so far, but Ares wasn't stupid and had caught on, but not until she had delivered several strikes to his unguarded ankles and knees, limiting his movement. His longer arms, however, enabled him to swing his sword in larger arcs and distances than in the past. Both combatants had delivered and traded blows the entire battle.

Gale rapidly blinked to keep the blood out of her eyes from the cut Ares had delivered to her forehead. She couldn't afford to lose sight of him, even for a moment. Her arms ached from the exerted effort from blocking his much heavier strikes, but it managed to keep his blade from actually reaching her so she wasn't complaining.

Ares' breath was coming out in ragged and irregular pants. His fighting style was greatly different than before. With the limited movement of his legs, he was forced to use wider swings and stronger strikes to make up for it. He had the upper hand against her when it came to physical strength, however she was countering it through maneuvering around him.

The battle was currently at a stalemate, but neither side relented. Gale noticed however, that Ares was starting to lose that calm and arrogant composure. He was attacking wildly, not giving her much time to react. He was no longer caring about whether or not he hit her, only making sure she didn't come near him. Clearly he couldn't stand the thought of losing to her. The madness in his eyes, belied his broken and twisted mind.

"I am getting tired of this!" he slashed his sword in a large arc, sending a wave of darkness toward her.

Gale attempted to block with her bow, but Ares had put much more power into it this time. Her feet slowly slid back and eventually blew her off her feet and onto her back. Ares grinned and used the darkness to propel himself forward, ready to end the fight. He raised his sword up, ready to impale the angel and end her life. He quickly stabbed his sword down, but met only stone.

Gale had managed to flip her body off the ground in an impromptu hand stand so that his sword missed her, if only by inches. Using her arms to spring up, her feet shot out and connected with his lower jaw, sending him stumbling back. She quickly got to her feet and delivered a powerful slash to his chest, slicing through his armor and into his flesh. Ares snarled angrily and brought his sword down, intending to slice the girl in half. The young angel brought her bow up just in time to intercept his blade. His greater weight bore down on her, but she refused to give up.

"Give it up, kid. I'm bigger, I'm stronger, I'll rip you to shreds. There's no way you could possibly win."

Gale grit her teeth as she attempted to force his blade back. _I can't hold him back much longer..!_ Her knees and arms trembled as she struggled to hold Ares back. Flashes of Palutena's smiling face, Viridi's annoyed yet caring smirk, and lastly her brothers confused yet hopeful as he was finally freed from Ares control flashed in her mind. _I, I can't lose here! I refuse to die! _Slowly but surely she was forcing Ares blade back, causing a small crack to form.

"What?!"

The angel let out a determined cry as she forced Ares' sword out of his hands and into the air. It clattered to the ground several yards away. He barely had time to register what had happened before the angel continued her assault.

"I have people waiting for me! Depending on me!" she yelled between each strike. Ares stumbled back in pain and quickly dashed to retrieve his sword. With his weakened legs, he clumsily grabbed his sword. He was about to charge at her when several more arrows struck his legs, causing him to stumble to his knees. His eyes widened in panic as he turned his head back to the angel.

Gale was slowly charging her arrow with power, much more power than before. "I vowed that I would end this war. That I would stop this fighting. You used my brother, you hurt Palutena, you belittled us all. You say that you'll kill me here?" the arrow was fully charged. Her blue eyes burned with a blazing determination. "You underestimated me, Ares. I REFUSE TO DIE HERE!"*

The arrow flew toward Ares at breakneck speed, tearing up the ground as it flew. Ares raised his sword to block it. The arrow impacted the crack on the blade and expanded the cracks, eventually shattering the blade. Ares screamed in agony as the energy ripped into him. His body began forming cracks and fractures as the energy tore him apart.

Something flew from his body in the blast. The object hit the ground at her feet and the girls eyes widened. Her brother's necklace! She thought that it had been lost for good when she freed Pit. Why did Ares have it? Her eyes turned back to the dark warrior.

Ares lay on the ground, bloody and burned. The intensity of the blast ripped him apart. What appeared to be cracks formed all along his body and darkness slowly leaked out of them. He didn't appear to be breathing.

The barrier surrounding them disappeared. Gale locked her gaze with Palutena's and immediately the chains binding the goddess of light disappeared. The girl wasted no time in rushing over to her fallen mistress, slinging her bow onto her back as she ran.

"Lady Palutena." She gently kneeled by the goddess' side.

Weak green eyes met tired blue ones. "Gale, you've grown so much." She gently rested her hand on Galen's face. The girl's face had matured slightly, now looking more like a teenager as her face lost some its childlike features. Gale gently helped her stand and placed a hand on her hip to keep her steady.

"Hate to interrupt this touching reunion, but we've got a problem!"

Both females snapped their heads to where Ares' body laid. Darkness was pouring out at a tremendous rate. His body slowly vanished and crumbled, as if made of dust and clay.

"You fools."

Dark flames rose from the ashes, forming a vaguely human figure. Two orbs of crimson flames sat in what the angel assumed was the head and glared at the girl, then shifted its gaze to Palutena.

Gale quickly stood in front of the wounded goddess, fully intent of protecting her.

The figure narrowed its crimson gaze and blasted the girl out of the way from the goddess.

"Galen!" Before Palutena could move, she found herself flying back, hitting the ground a few feet from where she was standing.

The girl managed to pick herself up from the ground, only for the dark figure to rush at her. It swiftly knocked her into the air and tackled her toward the ground. At the last moment it opened a dark rift below them.

"L-let go of me!" Gale struggled but found her strength fleeting, that battle had taken more out of her than she thought. She could do nothing as she was dragged into the dark rift below with her captor.

Palutena struggled to get to her feet and rush to the open portal on the ground. It was shrinking in size and would soon close for good.

"No!" her feet couldn't get her there fast enough. She was really going to lose her angel for good.

"What the..?!"

Her head snapped up at Viridi's exclamation. She spotted something in the distance rushing toward the closing rift. As it got closer, she could recognize that it was the Lightning Chariot. "How?!"

"Out of my way! Coming through!" the chariot driver shouted in warning. Phox and Lux impacted against the rift, causing it to open wider and stay open. The chariots driver flew out from the impact and hit the ground. Before a word could be said, they rushed toward the open portal and jumped in without hesitation.

Palutena's eyes widened as she managed to get a glimpse of the person before they disappeared into the dark void.

=I=I=

A/N: Cliffhanger much? This chapter was intense to write, but so satisfying. But Gale finally managed to get the upper hand and defeat Ares. As for how the chapter was going to end, it was honestly a hard decision between Gale or Palutena getting dragged into the portal. After several days of thinking, I finally decided that it would make much more sense for Gale to be the one who gets captured. And it gave me a good opportunity to include the last part and serve as a bridge into the next chapter.

It is worth noting the growth and development of Gale's character. She has definitely changed from when she first appeared in chapter 1. Before she was timid and unconfident, now she enters the battle with a strong will and dedication. Another minor thing to take notice of is she has begun developing a temper. Especially when people comment and make fun of her size. The real purpose is to just show how much she has changed. Before she would just take the insults and comments and be self-conscious, whereas now she snaps back and actually lashes out. Anyway, I'd love to hear feedback and from you guys. If you can, I'd really appreciate it if you reviewed, not mandatory but it'd be appreciated.


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